Do You Call My Name?
by Child of the Dragon
Summary: Frieza reaches Goku before Raditz can and tears apart everything the Earthraised Saiyan has come to know and love. ON HIATUS!
1. Prologue

**BEFORE YOU READ ANY OF MY FICS, PLEASE NOTE:** This fic has at least one Author's note in it that I would love for you to read. It is located in my Bio area after my Rants section. I think it would be very wise of you to check that area out for, even if you don't give a rat's ass about my A/Ns, my Bio area has information on the postings of the next chapters of this fic so you can mark your calenders and then spend your time wisely if I don't update on time (which has yet to happen), as well as much more information I think is vital to you readers. New to and don't know what the hell I'm talking about? Scroll up until you're at the top of the page. See the great banner on your farest left? Below that it says Just In, below that it says Anime, and below even that it says Author: Child of the Dragon with the last 4 words being highlighed in blue. Click that and you'll be fine. Now, please heed my words; I will get very pissy with you if you do not because I choose to believe that you are not stupid.

Child of the Dragon

**Prologue: The Hunt Begins**

Frieza sat in his chambers, feeling quite bored. His ship was heading to take care of a planet where his troops were having difficulty over-running the place. In the mean time, the Tyran of the Northern Universe had nothing else to do but hang around in his chambers. _'I could taunt the Saiyans,'_ he thought. _'But I have no reason to. They've been unsually good lately.'_

He tought of other ways to amuse himself, but both Zarbon and Dodoria were away, leading his side of the war on the planet he was heading towards, and Vegeta was busy having some stupid little meeting with what was left of his people. Frieza had to adimt, he loved the spunk in that boy; the way he carried on it was as if he had never been told that his planet was destroyed. He held prep rallys with his remaining fellow Saiyans (all way older then the little prince himself) before they went on missions; meetings to talk about...well, whatever monkeys like them talked about; he spoke to Frieza about the concerns of his people. Yes, Vegeta was a very good leader, a very good prince and Frieza had often told him so.

Frieza began to wonder, what _did_ Saiyans talk about during these random meetings Vegeta held? Frieza knew that when Vegeta was younger, around 6 or 7, these meetings were more of a recreational relaxation time for him and the others. He would want to play like all little children want to and, for the happiness of their prince, the others would act as playmates to the best of their ability and entertain Vegeta. But now the boy was grown up, 20 years old, and he shouldn't be playing silly little games. _'So what did they do now?'_ Frieza wondered. _'Well there was only one way to find out.'_

He found his scouter laying inside one of his transport vehicles. The small device held a communicator which connected him with anyone else who had one. With a few presses on a button he had instant connection to Vegeta's own personal scouter, but the scouter of the Saiyan Prince was turned off. Frowning, Frieza pushed the same button a few more times and pulled up another connection with another Saiyan, but that one was turned of too. He tried again with the same results. Growing suspicse, Frieza was just about to storm Vegeta's room when he found Raditz's communicator open.

And he did not like what he heard at all.

* * *

"Raditz, are you sure?" asked Vegeta. "I don't want to take such a huge risk if this would only lead us on a wild chase with no fruit for all our hard work."

"Frieza hasn't been anywhere near that planet," came Raditz's reply. "The closest he ever got to even touching it was sending my brother there to dominate it. And my brother never returned from that trip."

"So what?" Nappa said. "No offense Raditz, but your family didn't exactly get the highest ranking in the gene pool. Your brother could've parished. The inhabitants could've been stronger then calculated, it's happen before."

"But," Raditz defended, "that planet has a full moon _every month_. And while the inhabitants may be stronger, how many times has that stopped Saiyans from carrying out what we were breed to do? I do believe my brother is alive on that planet, I say we go and get him."

"But why hasn't he come back on his own?" asked a female voice. "You'd think there'd be no reason to stay. What kept him away for all these years?"

"I don't know. One thing is for sure though: the satus on his ship reported that it was badly damaged in the landing, and left unintended since then," Raditz supplied.

"We don't blame him for not knowing how to fix the ship to get home, we blame him for not trying to return in the first place!"

"Torah, let me remind you of what would've happened to my brother if he did come 'home', although I think I should also remind you that our home was destroyed by Frieza nearly 15 years ago. He would've come back around the same time you and your crew did. Did you notice a little boy of about two years old among those that were what was left of us then? Was he one of the handful of Saiyans lined up to die that day? I doubt it. He wasn't there. And I know he must be alive on that planet. Frieza seems to show no special intrest on this planet so I feel as long as he's there, he's safe. I don't know why he didn't come back, I don't know why he didn't try. All I do know is that he's a Saiyan too, we shouldn't leave him out there to die alone."

"No more discussion," Vegeta said as the others opened their mouths to offer more protests. "We still need a safe place to hide when he do revolt against Frieza, so I propose this:

"When we do make our break for freedom, we crash first at this planet that your bother is staying on. I will spend no more then three days looking for him, so we'd better find him soon. By then Frieza will be after us and we _will_ leave come the morning of the fourth day, perhaps even before then. Frieza will probably destroy the planet, so we'll have to find another close by that we can flee to. We'll get our bearings straight there. The pods are faster then his master ship, but Frieza has thousands of soldiers at his beck and call. Send enough and we all die.

"Raditz, what was the name of the planet he was on again?"

"Planet Earth," the Saiyan replied, earning a few grunts of "what the !" from the others. "And his name is Kakarot."

"Okay. We'll wait till our next big mission. That's when we move out. You'll all dismissed."

* * *

Frieza turned the scouter off. Nearly 18 years ago he had sensed that the Saiyans would be a threat to his reign over the universe. He had done everything he could possibly think of to ensure that wouldn't happen but no matter how hard he tried, something new always came up with them, posing a threat greater then before. He was reluctant to kill them all off; they were, after all, his best warriors and he had grown quite fond of Vegeta. _'Damn brat,'_ Frieza thought as he exited his room and headed towards the control room. _'If I'm not careful, he'll put me under the same spell he casted on his own father; _manipulation

"Set a course for a planet called Earth after I finish this war!" Frieza barked as he entered the room making several people jump in their seats. Ironically enough, one of the guards outside the door was Raditz (Vegeta's quarters weren't fall down the hall) and he immediately burst out upon hearing this.

"But Sire, why!"

Frieza turned to him and smiled coolly. "Well, thanks to an annonmuse tip, I have reason to believe there is a Saiyan on that planet who hasn't come home yet. I think it'd be very rude to leave him there alone, don't you agree?"

Raditz swallowed and said as clamly as he could, "what are you going to do to him?"

"Well, truthfully, I don't know. I guess it depends on my mood when we find him. Better hope that nobody pisses me off if you want pieces of his body when I'm done. He is, after all, your brother Raditz. No, don't worry about delivering the news to Vegeta, I can tell him personally tonight."

**End Prologue!**


	2. Captured!

**Chapter 1: Captured!**

"Chichi, do'ya think this will be enough for firewood?"

Goku's wife came out drying her hands on her aparin. She giggled slightly when she saw Goku set down the the last logs he had chopped, from the tree he brought back, in a huge pile. "You don't think it might be too much?" she asked still smiling. "What will we do with so much wood?"

"Well, it's better to have it and not need it then need it and not have enough, right?" Goku said as he set the logs down. "Where's Gohan, we're going to be late."

"I sent him out to play after lunch," Chichi said. "He shouldn't be too far away."

"I'll pick him up on my way then. Nimbus! Are you sure you don't want to come with Chichi?"

"No, you two go on ahead. But make sure you're back for dinner, Gohan still has school in the morning. I don't want you to keep him out past his bedtime."

"Yes dear," Goku replied as he climbed abode his familure golden cloud of speed. "I'll see you later Chichi." He gave her a little smile as she kissed him goodbye. "And don't worry about me forgetting when to come back; have I ever been late for dinner?" They said their final goodbyes and Goku sped off towards his son's familure energy signal. He was so in tuned with it that he didn't sense the greater one approaching.

Piccolo sat at his usual meditation spot as always, but today he couldn't focus on his mental training. The feeling of something big about to happen kept pressing on his mind. It was the calm before the storm; he could feel that Earth, although he wasn't as well in turned with it compared to it's natural inhabitants, was bracing herself for something bad. And on top of the thought of something bad happening, he kept feeling the urge to head towards Goku's house but he merely shook that off as a craving to pick a fight with his arch rival.

A chi, a great one, approaching from space. Surrounded by it was pure evil, but it radiated with fear. As it drew closer Piccolo began to see it wasn't just one, it was several hundred chis in a big group. Make that several hundred thousand. No, hundred million; the number was uncountable. Most of them were so weak, they but merely touched Piccolo's senses with a feather stroke before disappearing behind a bigger one. Even so, that many number of soldiers could mean nothing good. And then there was the hugest one. That one alone would be hard to take out alone.

Piccolo took off towards Goku's house. Knowing the young fighter, he would want to try and stop whatever it was that was coming but Piccolo knew that alone he'd wouldn't even stand a snowflake's chance in Hell.

It wasn't the first time Piccolo had to team up with Goku against an enemy they each couldn't possibly beat, as he recalled the fight that happened not long ago against Garlic jr. _'We had been lucky last time. Fate might not be so generous this time,'_ Piccolo noted to himself.

"Looks like a Saiyan alright!" said Captian Ginyu as he held up a limp Gohan by his tail. "But this can't possilby be the one we're looking for, he's way to young."

"Well, he was sent here when he was a baby, right? He woulda grown up some, right Captian?" came Racoom's deep voice. "I mean, he an't in dipers no more."

"Well, you're right about that," the Captian said. "But he didn't grow up a little, he grew up a lot! Try 20 years! This one is still a toddler. The Saiyan we're looking for has to be an adult by now, I'll be willing to bet this might be his offspring."

"Doesn't that make them more dangerous?" asked Burtur. "I hear Saiyans are very protective of their young and other family members, that's why Frieza kept them all separated. What do you think we should do with the boy?"

"Well," Captain Ginyu said holding the boy in his arms at a better angle to examine his face. "We came here and decided to look for the highest powerlevel for then we'd find the Saiyan. However, the highest powerlevel is his at 710 and that's because he fell into a river...Saiyans have been known to be able to manipulate chi and powerlevels on their own with out the help of machines like most all of our other soldiers...I reckon the Saiyan we want has his condensed so our scouters can't sense it."

"So we go on looking then?" asked Guldo.

"No," their captain replied petting Gohan's hair. "We don't have to do that anymore. As Burtur pointed out, Saiyans are very protective of their young. Now that we have this little boy, it's only a matter of time before our Saiyan comes looking for him. When he finds us holding him hostage, all we need to do is threaten to kill the boy if he doesn't cooperate and he'll walk right into the palms of our hands."

"How do you think he got a son if he was the only Saiyan sent to this world?" asked Jaice.

Burtur shrugged. "Perhaps we later sent a female Saiyan thinking this one died."

"No," said Captain Ginyu. "There were no other Saiyans. Haven't you noticed what the inhabitans of this world look like? They're almost identicall to Saiyans. I wouldn't be surprised if their sexual organs and the way they produce young was close if not identical as well. Once we have the original Saiyan we came for, we'll take both him and his son back to the ship. Let Frieza deal with the father however he wants, I'll advise him to run tests on the boy to see if he really is only half Saiyan."

"And if he is?" asked Guldo

"Well, this planet certainly won't be around for much longer."

"Pity," said Jaice as he took a look around at the landscape. "It was a really pretty planet; would've been a nice to make another base. And I'll bet the price would've been huge."

"Well, it wasn't our call to make gentlemen," said the captain. "Lets head back to the pods and wait for our Saiyan guest."

"Where's Goku!"

Chichi screamed and turned around, bearing a knife she had been using to cut up vegetables. "_You!_ What do _you_ want? Get out of my house! Leave my family alone! You can't fight my husband now, I forbid it! Get out! What are you doing! Don't come in- Don't get any closer! I have a knife you know! I know how to use it! I'll slit you're throat, I swear I'll do it!"

Piccolo ignored her threats and closed the few feet between him and Chichi, getting as close as she would allow him to. "Where is Goku, Mrs. Son?" he asked more calmly hoping that she'd settle down and tell him. Of course she didn't.

"I told you to get out. Now, I'm giving you till the count of three to listen. If you refuse, I will not hesitate to kill you. One..."

"I don't want to fight your husband right now! I need to discuss something with him..."

"Two..."

"He isn't even home, is he?"

"THREE!" Chichi attacked her intruder but Piccolo, being much more experienced then her, grabbed the hand holding the knife and thrust it into the air. Her grip on the weapon loosened and Piccolo grabbed it with his other hand before spinning Chichi around and pressing the knife to her neck. The fight was over in less then two seconds.

"Now you see here," Piccolo whispered in Chichi's ear. "You've just really pissed me off, I'd love to shed your blood right now. However, I have something I need to take care of and don't have the time to watch you die a slow, painful death. Now, this planet is mine and mine alone; I will rule over it one day and anyone who trys to stop me _will_ be killed. But something's coming this way, something evil, and I intend to stop it from whatever it plans to do to Earth. Now I will ask you again and I want you to answer truthfully, where is Son Goku?"

"With his friends, he left barely 10 minutes ago. He went to pick up our son first so he may still be on his way...You won't hurt Gohan will you?"

Piccolo didn't reply at first. Then he said, sounding very tightly wound, "where is your son?"

"Oh please don't hurt him!" Chichi begged as she began to cry. "He's my only son, he's only four years old! He didn't do anything wrong! Please take my life-"

"No, I meant what was your son doing!"

"He was playing in the woods! Please, please don't hurt him..."

"They're here...They're after Goku!"

"Who's here? Who's after Goku? What's going on?"

Piccolo dropped Chichi and fled to the front door. He stopped and stabbed the knife into the door frame hard enough that it was too deep for Chichi to pull free by herself. "Stay here till I get back. Don't move and find a place to hide where no one will see you, like a closet. But be prepared to run." Chichi didn't need to be told twice anymore, she scrambled into her son's room and slammed the door. Piccolo trusted her to do as he said and took off towards the battling chi in the forest that was the Son's backyard.

Goku frowned a bit when he began having trouble finding Gohan in the woods. The trees were thick and nothing could be seen through them, but Goku could sense his son's energy, which was moving but to where Goku couldn't quite figure out. And it was wavering. Like any other parent, Goku began running a series of horrible events in his head all ending with Gohan dying very painfully or calling for him or Chichi while alone and scared and bloody. This didn't help the panic that was building up inside him.

"Gohan!" Goku cried loudly over the forest. No reply. "GOHAN!" he shouted louder. "GOHAN, WHERE ARE YOU?"

_'His energy, focus more on where that is,'_ a voice inside Goku said, his internal instinct. Quick to follow it's advice, he found that Gohan was above him rather then below him. _'But Gohan can't fly,'_ Goku reasoned as he looked up at a cloud. _'How could he ever get up there then?' _The cloud pulled away and reviled five figures flying overhead, each bearing a frighteningly high, and ver evil, powerlevel way out of Goku's league. The one in the front was carrying a little boy of about four with an energy level identical to-

"GOHAN!" Goku cried as he shot up after the five. The one he was aiming for, the one in the lead, saw him before he could get close enough to grab Gohan. Ginyu sidestepped Goku's assault and the other four members of his crew quickly tried to head Goku off as he rounded for another try at getting his son. "Give me back my son!"

"That's our Saiyan! Surround him! Don't let him get away!" called Ginyu dodging another of Goku's swipes at him. As the others struggled to get a hold on him, then struggled to hold him still, Captain Ginyu gathered a strong ball of chi in the hand he wasn't using to hold Gohan's tail and pressed it to the boy's head before whistling to get Goku's attention.

"GIVE HIM BACK!" Goku roared, pushing Guldo off of his left shoulder. "I am NOT playing with you, give him back or I'll-"

"We aren't playing either Saiyan," Ginyu said. "We have orders from our Lord to bring you back alive. Now, wiether you want to come with us unconscientious or awake is up to you. And wiether you want your son to die or not is also up to you. I would suggest the latter on both accounts, it's the easiest path to take."

"That's funny," Goku said watching his son and the grip his captor had on him. "I've never been known for taking the easy way out."

"Not even when your own son's life is at stake?"

"You make a good point. But you don't need to hold my son. Just let him go. As long as you leave him alone, I'll do whatever you want, I promise."

"I'm afraid we can't do that. You see, this boy is half of you, half Saiyan. Our master, I'm sure, would love to examine him. But I doubt Lord Frieza would care if we brought him back dead; more reason to cut him open and take a look inside you know. Besides, if we let him go, then we have no absolute garentee you'd give us your full cooraperation."

"I understand," Goku said. "You don't trust me; well, I can't say the feeling isn't mutral."

"Just hold still," said Racoom, letting go of Goku's torso, but not his right wrist. "You may wake up with a slight headache, but it will only hurt for a split second." He pulled back his hand and knocked Goku on the back of the head hard enough that he was unconscientious as soon as Racoom touched him.

"You sure this is our guy?" asked Guldo examining Goku's face. "Where's his tail?"

"A good question," added Ginyu. "It would've made it easier to capture him, but I think we did a good job. Lets go men."

Then suddenly, there came a blast of chi which hit the hand Captain Ginyu was using to hold Gohan. The boy was instantly released and fell, screaming, into the hands of Piccolo. "It's really pathic that you'd take his son hostage just because you're afraid to fight him!" he said.

"A Namek!" scoffed Racoom. "Well, that's a surprise; I didn't think they inhabitated any other planet but their own homeworld."

"Forget why he's here!" called the captain. "He's got the boy! I want that Namek dead!"

Piccolo cursed as he dodged a chi blast. Gohan had completely frozen up. Clinging to Piccolo's shirt, he burried his face so deep Piccolo had to wonder how the boy could breathe. But he didn't have much time to think about Gohan before he was thrown into a fight against three opponates, one he might be lucky enough to at least knock unconscientious but the other two he didn't have a chance against on his own. And on top of everything he had Gohan crippling him. _'Damn it!'_ Piccolo swore to himself and he began dropping altitude. He ducked into the forest, compressing his engergy so low he cloudn't fly, and made a break to shake off the two that followed. At least Gohan wasn't screaming anymore.

Captain Ginyu rubbed his hand tenderly. "Give him here Racoom," he said, indicating the unconscientious Goku in his arms. "I'll take him back to Frieza, you go help the others get the boy. And what are you standing aroud for Guldo! Use your Time Freeze to catch them!"

Guldo rolled his four eyes and took off after his team mates while Racoom handed over Goku. "So it's okay to kill them both then?" he asked.

"Try to bring back the body of the boy, but yes, I don't care about either of their safety," Ginyu said as he took the sleeping Saiyan into his arms. And the two went their seprate ways with their separate missions.

**End Chapter 1!**


	3. Destruction!

**Chapter 2: Destrution**

Goku woke up feeling disoriented; who wouldn't after being smacked that hard upside the head? But he didn't remember that, or much of anything for that matter. He was even drawing a blank in trying to produce his own name. He was sure he had never seen it before, this place he was now in, but was that really true or was he waking up with a bad case of amnesia? It was dark, that was for sure as no light of any kind was allowed in and there were no windows. And wherever he was wasn't very big, only a few square feet, leaving him with a slight feeling of cluster phobia. His head throbbed; he wished he was still unconscious.

"Let me see him!" came a voice from the other side of the door, wherever that may be. It seemed a bit panic-stricken but more demanding then anything else. There was another voice, Goku couldn't hear what they were saying but whatever it was pissed off the first voice. "Open the damn door! That's my brother you've got it there, you have not right to keep him from me!"

The first voice spoke again and this time Goku realized it wasn't that he couldn't hear them, it was just that he couldn't understand them; they weren't speaking English!

Something slammed against the wall right next to Goku's head. If his headache wasn't bad enough it just got worse from the impact. The sounds of a small scuffle was heard, then some shots being fired. At one point a small beam of chi chewed threw the wall Goku was now facing, barely missing his head by a few inches, and a beam of light followed afterward from the world outside.

"What the HELL is going on here!" That voice was enough to end the scuffle, which ceased the heartbeat it spoke. "Raditz, release him." Someone dropped a body.

Another voice spoke. It too wasn't speaking in a tongue Goku knew but the others understood it. And the others replied, not in the unknown language, but in the language Goku did know which also wasn't English. The forgotten Saiyan shivered and pulled his knees to his chest. This all was a little too much to be thrown at him all at once.

"Yes Lord Frieza," said the voice of whoever had ended to fight outside the door. "But please, the Saiyan you've taken a bored is Raditz's younger brother. Please pardon his outburst and allow him to see his sibling. As you well know, Saiyans are very quick to act protectively around other family members."

The first voice replied. When Vegeta didn't reply himself, Lord Frieza went on calmly, and apparently said something to trigger the "protectiveness of other family members" for it was Raditz's voice who interrupted with "No! You Can't-" before a shout from the speaker quickly silenced him; then it continued it's calm explanation to Vegeta as though nothing had happened.

The air was deathly still and silent for a few minutes; and in that time Goku became aware of two things: one was that his head no longer hurt and the other was that he was really, really, _really_ scared. He didn't know where he was, how he got there, any of the voices speaking undoubtedly about him; everything was new to him. He wanted to go home, though he could barely piece together a picture of home in his head; whatever, he just wanted to go to a place where he knew he would feel safe. That person who had been speaking, Lord Frieza or whatever his name was, his voice had been so full of venom, he knew that's why Vegeta had not responded. He did not even know them but he didn't want Vegeta and Raditz to leave him alone with that other guy, oh no.

And when the sounds of their footsteps walking away down the hall were heard, the fear knotting in Goku's stomach tightened. He wanted to get up, pound on the door, scream for them to not leave him alone but his fear held him down. He was trembling so bad he wouldn't have been surprised if his wife woke him up and told him there was a 7.0 earthquake happening in their area. But there was no earthquake. This was no dream. And the fear wasn't going away. The door slid open; the light that pooled in blinded Goku for a minute and then his eyes adjusted.

Frieza. He stood just barely tall enough to look down on Goku who was, at the time, huddled in a corner looking rather meek. Pink and purple, pale, pale, pale rose and mauve were his primary skin tones as well as a chilling clean white snow color adorned on his head, arms and shins that actually looked more like bone then skin. Embedded in the white bone-like skin of the crown, was a shiny purple dome. Protruding from either side, just above what Goku could only guess were ears, were sharp, black horns.

Down both cheeks ran a line, separating a light pink from a darker one rippled with more lines; the dark pink skin matched the same type of skin covering Frieza's arms, legs and a thick tail resting lazily behind him. The lines that ran down the cheeks vertically reminded Goku of tear streaks, but not ones made by the one who bore them. They were the tear streaks of others who had been hurt by Frieza, their lives shattered, their worlds destroyed. And as Goku looked directaly into Frieza's eyes, a deep and strong blood red color, he could see that this man had done harm to so many that the number was uncountable.

Frieza neither smiled nor frowned while looking down at Goku, he kept his face completely blank. "Get up," he said in the language Goku understood, "and follow me." He waited for Goku, who responded hesitantly. Now standing, the Saiyan towered over Frieza but that didn't help make Goku's fear of the guy go away. He could feel the chi of Frieza, Frieza's men, the two who were told to leave and they were all unbelievably stronger then himself; to fight or oppose anyone would be foolish. Goku was nearly scared out of his mind, and overwhelmed by the circulating chi, and he may have wanted to just crawl under his own bed in the safety of his own home (an image of his wife and son was slowing beginning to form in his mind's eye) and hope that everything would just go back to normal, but that was no reason to act childish he told himself. _'Just go with it, everything will be fine.'_

Frieza beckoned for Goku to follow him and began to walk down the hall. Goku took a look at the two guards who had denied Raditz the privilege to see him and followed Frieza down the hall. He took in all of his surroundings as they walked though it was mostly just a long twisting hall with a door appearing on one side or another. At one of them a door was open and a few heads and upper bodies were leaning out to try and get a look. Frieza waved his hand at them and made a noise that one would make to shoo away a stray cat and they quickly disappeared back into the room, the door sliding shut right behind them, but not before Goku caught a glimpse of their dark charcoal black eyes and messy black hair.

Finally, Frieza stopped at a door and pushed a button beside it. The door swung open with a slight _swish_ to revile a large room, one Goku didn't expect to find in this place considering the halls where rather small. One side of it contained a large dome shaped window and it was then that Goku discovered exactly where he was and where he wasn't, for floating in the middle of the frame of the window, almost perfectly centered none-the-less, was Earth and around it was the dark, cold void of space.

"Don't just stand their gaping, get your monkey ass in here," came Frieza's voice from the center of the room. "And make sure your stupid tail doesn't get caught in the door." Goku scooted into the room and behind him the door swung shut, leaving the two alone. Frieza had his back turned so Goku couldn't see the expression on his face, but he had a feeling he was upset about something.

"Why didn't you return?" The tyrant finally asked. "Was it always a part of the plan?"

"What plan?" asked Goku.

It took Frieza a while to answer but he finally responded with, "I know Saiyans are dumb, but don't play stupid with me, Monkey. I'm already pretty pissed off."

Goku gave him a troubled look. "Saiyans," he muttered in a whisper before continuing with the reply of, "I really don't know what you're talking about. I was never told of any plan of any sort that involved me staying somewhere...Why? Where was I suppose to return to? I mean, I've lived on Earth all my life, it's not like I fell out of the sky or anything."

Frieza turned around to face his hostage. For a moment he watched Goku, looked him up and down as though trying to decide something. "You're speaking in gibberish Monkey," he said. "Speak in your native tongue."

"I am speaking in my native tongue!"

Frieza faced him fully, a slight trace of anger etched onto his face. "Alrighty, we'll try this differently. Nod your head to mean yes, shake it to mean no. Can you understand me?"

Goku hesitated. In truth, he wasn't understanding every single word, but the points of the things Frieza said could be grasped. He slowly nodded his head once.

"Do you even speak the Saiyan tongue?"

Goku shook his head.

"But you are a Saiyan, correct?"

Again Goku hesitated. _'What's a Saiyan?'_ he asked himself. After what had happened, he had a feeling that he was indeed one but he couldn't conclude that for sure since he didn't know what a Saiyan was. Not knowing what else to do, he raised and lowered one shoulder hopping that sign was as universal as a nod and shake of the head.

"I see. So you don't know if you're a Saiyan or not?"

Goku nodded.

"Do you have a tail? In fact, where is your tail, I don't see it anywhere on your body...Did you...did you cut it off?"

But before Goku could answer, there was a knock on the door and in entered Ginyu, the guy who had taken Goku from Earth. He quickly walked past Goku without even a second glance at him and began talking with Frieza. He presented him with a device like the one Frieza had on his his own face and the tyrant took it with a quick glance at the Saiyan. He took of the one he was wearing and gave it to Ginyu. They talked some more and whatever they were saying obviously wasn't something Frieza wanted to hear. There were more glances thrown at Goku, some mentionings of Saiyans more then once and something about a Namek, whatever_ that_ was. Finnally Frieza dismissed Captain Ginyu and turned back to his hostage. He pushed a button on the new device clinging to his face a few times then said, "Well now, I think we'll be able to understand each other a little better with this, don't you agree?" in perfect English!

Goku didn't respond, just stared a little dumbfounded. Gohan had been learning some different languages when he stared school, and the boy was pretty fluent in most of them. Goku remembered (a little fuzzily, but still intact) Gohan trying to teach his father some of the words and how to use them. But for all the effort Goku put into it, speaking another language as well as his son seemed beyond him, yet here was someone who had done it seemingly at the push of a button.

"Well! Speak your gibberish Monkey! I can understand you now! Tell me what happened to your tail!"

Goku snapped out of his shock. "It was removed for good a long time ago."

"And what of your son? How did you get him?"

Goku blushed a deep crimson. He may have been extremely naive as a child, but there was a lot Chichi had taught him and he was much wiser now. He knew the things they had done on their honeymoon, as well as other various nights, were only for them to explore together and other people needn't pry into that. "Uhh...He...he came to us one day..."

"From your mate?"

"Yeah..."

"I see. " Frieza turned toward the window looking out to Earth. He seemed to be thinking something over in his mind, calculating, predicting, processing. He frowned deeper and turned back around. "You wait here. If you try anything, I'll kill you." And with that, Frieza left. And Goku was alone in the room.

The Saiyan looked around for something that might entertain him until Frieza came back, but there was nothing that looked very interesting aside from a few hover chairs over by the wall. He made his way to the window and pressed his nose in to it's cool glass covering, leaving a puff of whiteness when he breathed against it.

It was, quite literally for it wasn't that he didn't remember it as an infant but rather that he was asleep at that time, the very first time he had seen Earth from space. Goku began to realize how beautiful the earth was with it's swirling colors of blue, white, green and brown. Sure, he'd found plenty of beauty while on the surface, but this was somehow more magical. The clouds were swirling a dance across the planet, slow even from this distance but steady none-the-less. It was calming for Goku's nerves, very entrancing. He breathed deep, the knot in his stomach loosened a bit.

"Kakarot?"

Goku spun around and pressed his back to the window. He hadn't heard anyone come in, yet standing barely two feet away now was someone he had never seen before in his life.

He stood about one foot taller then Goku, his hair hung down to his knees. Hair that was not unlike Goku's own wild black mane and framing a face that held features that were not much different then the ones engraved on his own face. Before Goku could even respond though, he was swept up into a hug; embraced between two arms whose muscles were finely toned, also not unlike Goku himself.

The smell reeking off of him, however, wasn't the most pleasing of smells Goku was accustomed to now but it did bring up a buried memory the Saiyan had of when he first met Bulma. Hadn't she said he needed a bath? So many similarities, chills were running up and down his spine, driving all the hair on his head to stand on end. If Goku still had his tail he was sure it's fur would be spiking out to make it look so much bigger then really was, just like the one wrapped around his own waist right now...

Wait! A tail! The man hugging him had a tail as well! The same kind that Goku used to have, the exact same.

The younger Saiyan felt his head spinning but he wasn't sure if it was because of the lack of air from being hugged so hard, the strong scent coming off of who he was sure to be his kin, or simply because of the intake of so much data all at once. Either way, he began to slack and the other lessened his grip to ask, "Kakarot? Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Goku pushed away from him and leaned up against the glass window to steady himself. He looked back to the other and had to ask, "who are you?"

"You do not remember me, Kakarot? I am your older brother. How could you forget me?" he replied looking a bit hurt.

Goku felt bad. "I don't deny the fact that you are my brother," he said trying to soothe Raditz's hurt. "But I don't recall who you are."

Raditz leaned his head slightly to the side, as though an invisible being was whispering something into his ear and he was listening intently, a frown forming on his face. Then he looked back at Goku, the younger not liking the slight look of fear mixed in with the sadness that his eyes held, but he set upon it a determined look an took his younger brother's hands. "I have to go now Kakarot; it was foolish of me to even risk coming but I'm sure you know that I could not leave you alone with Frieza. He will not want you to live, but if you prove yourself very useful he will not mind sparing your life. Do everything you can to show yourself worthy. Do what he says without question and without compliant. Please live Kakarot, I don't want to lose you. Not again." He looked again as if someone was whispering in his ear something urgent and hugged Goku one last time before dashing to the door, stopping only to look back at his brother before disappearing down the hall.

And leaving Goku alone with a churning stomach. Shivers were still dancing across his skin from the encounter and he rubbed his hands along his arms in an attempt to trip them up. A few more quite moments to himself passed and Goku used the time to think of all that had been thrown in his face.

He'd been taken form his home.

He'd been spoken to in some other language that he possibly knew, but couldn't speak.

He'd found a long lost brother.

People he didn't know a thing about seemed to know more about him then he himself knew.

And to top it all off, his friends were probably thinking, "Where in the hell is Goku? Our reunion started 3 hours ago!" Granted Goku was always a little on the late side, he wouldn't have been surprised if Bulma had told him it started an hour earlier then she told everyone else in an attempt to get him there on time, but this was a little too long for them to think he was just fine and dandy, if he hadn't been out for longer then a couple of hours. No, a few hours seemed right so his friends must've just started to begin to notice he was missing. They probably weren't panicking over it though, unless they called Chichi. Chichi would start running all kinds of horror stories through her head and get herself all worked up for nothing.

Goku sat on the ground and laid back to look up at the incredibly high ceiling. There was nothing for him to do but wait it out to see what would happen next. No need to panic. He'd be home soon enough. Chichi and Gohan could wait...

Gohan!

Goku quickly jumped to his feet, running a million different horror stories through his head about what could've happened to his son. He had totally forgotten, how_ could_ he have forgotten his own son? It didn't occur to him that he never knew what happened to his son after the Captain had taken him hostage. Was he killed? Was he tortured? Was he tortured then killed? Was he locked away somewhere, alone and scared and crying for his father who had so _stupidly_ forgotten his very existence? Was something horrible like molestation happing to his son, the little boy he was suppose to protect, the baby he loved so dearly he'd give his very life for in an instant without a moment's hesitation or even a second regretful thought?_ WHAT WERE THESE FREAKS DOING TO HIS LITTLE BOY!_

The panic constricted around his chest, the thoughts around his brain yet the one thing both his heart and mind screamed together was _'find Gohan, protect Gohan'_ and he make quick and shaken steps towards the door he had entered the room through. Before he could be stopped by his lack of knowledge in knowing how to open it, the door swished open and a guard came in carrying in one hand some type of handcuffs and a blind fold.

Goku grabbed him where shoulder met neck and lifted him up into the air, slamming him against a wall. "WHERE'S MY SON?" he bellowed not caring if he was understood or not. "WHERE _IS_ HE!"

Some other guards tried to pull Goku off of the first one, speaking as though to try and calm him down or show that they didn't understand him. It didn't matter because it didn't help. Goku shoved them all away and started running down the hall, feeling desperately for his son's energy level. It was not a comforting feeling when he couldn't pick it up. But he couldn't rule out that it meant he wasn't alive anymore, he was still surrounded by unbelievable chi all around him; it was possible Gohan's was just dwarfed by the greater amount.

Then something slammed into Goku from his right. Hard. It took him a moment to realize, but it was a body; that Racoom dude or whoever. Before Goku could ever get his barrings straight, his arms were pulled behind him and pinned to his back. Racoom didn't say anything, but Goku could tell he was getting a whole lot of pleasure from just pushing Goku's face into the ground and holding it there.

Footsteps ran down the hall and some voices shouted, nothing Goku understood but Racoom did for he replied and loosened the grip on Goku's arms a bit so someone could tie them up with the handcuffs the first guard had been holding. Then Racoom pulled Goku up onto his knees so someone could quickly tie a blindfold around his head. Through it all, Racoom maintained a nicely fit grip on Goku's neck and that's the only reason he didn't object or fight back; it wouldn't take the brute a whole lotta strength to tighten his grip so Goku couldn't breathe.

The Saiyan was lifted to his feet and kicked at the heel, a command for "walk forward" Goku assumed. He obeyed (what else was he to do?) and let them lead him blindly down the hall.

His thoughts stayed on Gohan, save the few times they strayed to what Chichi was gonna do to him once he got back home. Yes, once; he didn't bother to waste energy thinking things like "I'll never see the ones I love ever again" because keeping a level head was something he really needed right then. He had just learned that freaking out over not knowing where his son was wasn't going to get Gohan to him any faster.

As they walked, Goku took deep breaths to steady himself, for the umpteenth time that day. He took the time to size up the guards walking with him, and realized they were the same ones who had taken him hostage so fighting them wouldn't do any good. And outsmarting them was looking pretty bleak too, since this was their territory and he was so incredibly uncommon to it. He thought about asking for his son, but that seemed pointless since they wouldn't understand him. All Goku could really do was pray to God they hadn't hurt him. For their sake.

"Stop," said the voice of Captain Ginyu. Some buttons were pushed and Goku felt the ground beneath his feet start to lift. The air got colder and thiner. He wished he could take the blindfold off to see where he was, but that defiantly wouldn't have been the smartest thing to do. The ground stopped moving and he was made to walk forward a few more feet and stop again.

"I want to see how powerful you are, Saiyan," came Frieza's voice from his right. "I don't believe that the technology on...the planet on which you've been staying is as advanced as ours. We have instruments that can measure your exact powerlevel and the power behind any attack you throw out. Now, don't remove your blindfold."

The handcuffs holding Goku's hands were removed and he pulled them up to his chest to rub the wrists and get the circulation flowing back in them. He then remembered what his brother had told him when he came to see him just moments before. This must've been what he was talking about.

"So let's start with the basics. Is this your full power?" asked Frieza.

"No," Goku answered earnestly. "I can go a little higher then this."

"Do it."

Goku obeyed. He raised his power to it's peak and pushed at it as he would do in battle. The warmth of his flaring aura around his body was almost like wrapping a security blanket over his shoulders. If it had actually been something of stable material, he would've made a move to hug it for it's familiarity. Once he thought they got a good look at how strong he was, Goku dropped power till he was in his usual resting state. The cold air jumped back on to his body and swallowed him whole.

"Good," Frieza said. "You may very well pass. Now, you're strongest attack of ki. Channel it but don't fire it till I say so. Aim straight ahead."

"Kaaa," Goku began without a moment's hesitation.

"Meee..." The warmth of the channeled chi ran down his arm and into his hand.

"Haaa..." His fingers began to spark as the energy tried to break free, but was held together by Goku's concentrated will.

"Meee..." The energy burst from his hands and began to rotate violently between them, warning all of it's deadly power. It gave off a bright white light that was pretty blinding though not entirely so for Goku's hands not only blocked it, but they were the only things keeping the attack from careening out of control. He let it build up just a little more before releasing it with a mighty "HA!" at this target.

The blindfold was, quite literally, ripped from Goku's face and the first thing he noticed was that he was outside of the ship he had just been in. Outside, without any protection, any lifeline, any anything besides the clothes on his back and surrounded by the cold nothingness of deep space. The second thing he noticed was that the Kamehameha he had launched, was headed direct ally for Earth.

Time froze. No joking.

At when it started up again Goku could hardly keep up with what happened. But one moment Earth was there and the next there was a massive explosion so great, debris was flying past Goku's head and the heat caressed his cheeks. Then there was a wave of force and it knocked Goku over so that he fell on his back. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to block out the thoughts that's were freshest in his mind. _'No,'_ he told himself. _'This is all just a really bad dream. A _REALLY _bad dream. Earth will still be there when I open my eyes; I'll be _ON _earth when I open my eyes, watch and see...'_

"You know, we never did retrieve your son before we allowed you to do that," whispered Frieza's voice in his ear. Goku squeezed his eyes harder and clamped his hands over his ears. As hard as he was trying to erase everything that had just happened, it didn't seem to want to go anywhere. If anything it began to replay over in his mind. Again and again, Frieza's words and Goku's unthoughtful eagerness to participate. How could he? How could he? How could he just kill like that! All the people on Earth, everyone just died! Because of him, because he killed them with his own hands! His friends, his family...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**End Chapter 2!**


	4. Retreat!

(This A/N remains because it's too improtant to move.)

Oh good! You're all here! Well, before we get into the story, there's a nice long speech I'd like you all to listen to. And if you don't read it then let it be known that you have NOT THE RIGHT to yell at me for killing Gohan!  
Kami forsake those of you who can't handle what I write! It's a fic people, and there are hundreds more where mine came from, and I'm POSITIVE I'm not the first one to spill Gohan's blood. Let me just point out that I like to go against what people say I should do most of the time, especially if they say it as nastily as you have. So when you write "Don't kill Gohan!" I hear "MmmmHalf-Saiyan blood on my chocolate ice cream!"  
Now I would like (some more then others...) all of you to know that I add the character filter thing cuz I think it's pretty cool, but this fic isn't just about Gohan. Or Goku. It's about ALL the Saiyans. This fic is my tribute to them. This is to hail their Pride. this is to hail their Glory. This is to hail their legacy. To examine their humiliation, and hardships and all the **_SHIT_** they had to put up with from Frieza. But most importantly, it is salute to them in that, even after all that and the fucking nightmare they had endure, they shrived to live through it. They NEVER gave up or into the temptation of death.  
And you're all freaking out because I killed some little Half-Saiyan boy.  
Like it or not, Goku has been rudely dragged into a world that would get no greater pleasure then to see him fail and he too is going to get pounded on more then a couple times. Vegeta said it himself, Frieza was no loving, caring parent that would pick them up when they fell down and kiss their boo-boos. He was the one slamming them into the walls in the first place.  
So is Gohan. And from the way some of you are acting, I am VERY tempted to rain down on Gohan the hardest, if that day even COMES. Really people, how do you all know for certain that I killed him? Huh? Did you see his blood spill before your eyes, leak from a deep slash in his body until he became to weak to hold on to life and so slipped away into the darkness? Has DBZ taught you NOTHING about how the hero will always crawl out of the crater of absolute destruction? The boy may one day play a key role in the fic, but he can just as well play that role dead as he can alive.  
To put things to an end, keep believing Gohan is dead. You're more involved with the fic that way; you bond more quickly with Goku that way and feel what he feels in the fic more easily.  
Now stop obsessing over the dead and worry about the horrors I have waiting for the living. Is it honestly so hard to cry over Vegeta or Goku? Maybe if he's lucky enough, your bonding with him will keep him alive too...  
Oh, and one more thing: Some of you wanna know why Raditz isn't a God-damn fucking bastard, you know, like the way we met him, right? Well, go read _**Dragoness Eclectic**_'s fic _Why_. It explains very well the way I view the "Real Raditz."  
Now with all that said and done, you all can finally enjoy the fic. So Enjoy The Kami Forsaken Fic!  
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

**Chapter 3: Retreat**

Fasha sat down next to Goku on the bed he was laying in. She picked up his head and tilted it back so she could feed him a little broth then set the bowl down and gently returned his head to the pillow. She stroked his hair and hummed a light lullaby. Behind her, Raditz was furious with anger.

"How could they do this to my brother!" He shouted. He got up and started pacing the floor.It would've been him tending to his younger sibling's every need had his Saiyan Rage not been flaring as high as it was. He concluded himself that he'd be more harm then help and asked Fasha to tend to Goku for him. "How! He doesn't deserve to be treated like that! They can't get away with this!" He channeled all his frustration and anger into his fist and sent it straight through the wall.

"Raditz! Get a hold of yourself!" Fasha barked. "I know it's upsetting, the way Frieza treats us and all. But throwing a temper tantrum is NOT going to solve our problems. Let's just be thankful Frieza gave Kakarot to us alive and not dead. And besides, you don't even know what they did to him."

"I know it had something to do with the destruction of that planet we'd been orbiting!" Raditz retorted as he pulled free his arm and went to join Fasha beside the bed.

Fasha was silent a long moment as she played with Goku's hair. "Do you think..."she started, but her voice trailed away.

"What?" asked Raditz. "What were you going to ask?"

Fasha shook her head. "There's no need to ask, it's written all over him."

"What? What's written? Where?"

"The reason he didn't come back. Don't you see; that's why he's like this. He had bonds on that planet, many and very strong bonds with the people. Maybe even a mate. And a son or daughter."

It was silent a long while as this sunk in. To both the older Saiyans in the room it made such perfect sense, and at the same time, no sense at all. Saiyans bonded with other Saiyans. And depending on the level of the bond when it was broken through death determines the level of distress and period of grieving for the Saiyan. Kakarot was the only Saiyan on Earth. How could he have formed bonds with other beings? How could he have even reproduced with them? And if indeed he did have a mate and she had died, then it was almost guaranteed that he would follow her into death. Mates hardly ever left each other's side, even in the afterlife.

"My brother is preparing to die?" asked Raditz in a small whisper.

Fasha nodded. That seemed to be exactly what Kakarot was doing as he laid there on the bed. And if that was the case, then there wasn't anything anyone could do to stop him. His body would reject food and water till he just starved to death. Not a nice way to go, for a Saiyan.

The woman stood and gave Goku one last sympathetic look. "I'll alert Prince Vegeta to his condition. You stay by him if wakes up. Feed him some more broth or water if he asks for it. And try not to be too upset, this isn't your fault." Then she left, leaving the two brothers alone.

Raditz knelt beside the bed and took his brother's hand. Not his fault? Yeah, right. Who's bright idea was it to go to Earth and find Kakarot? His. Who's scouter was open during that whole conversation? His. Who alerted Frieza to what the Saiyans were planning to do? Him. And how could Raditz be thankful Frieza had returned his brother to him alive if he was just going to die in a couple days anyways?

Kakarot stirred a bit, muttering his gibberish. A smile crawled across his lips and he rolled closer to Raditz, still talking. He hadn't opened his eyes yet and Raditz assumed he was still dreaming, most probably of his mate by the way he was talking. He paused; apparently he had asked a question for when no answer came he started talking again, but with a tone of voice that wasn't as soft as the one he'd been using. This one sounded worried, fearful.

"Kakarot, you're not on Earth anymore," Raditz stated and his younger brother's eyes sprang open. He jumped up and scurried into the nearest corner where he pulled his feet to his chest and buried his face between his knees and under his hands and arms. Kakarot began to rock back and fort muttering something over again and again.

Slowly Raditz climbed on the bed himself and inched towards Kakarot. Just looking at Kakarot was enough to tell him that this was all very traumatic for him and the last thing Raditz wanted to do was stress him out even more. He laid his hand over the knees and snaked his other arm around the little Saiyan's back.

Kakarot stopped muttering. And rocking. His shoulders heaved once, then stilled. They heaved again as he took a sharp breath before stilling again. This repeated several more times and then Kakarot whimpered. He leaned towards Raditz and began recoiling himself around his older brother, nuzzling his face into his chest before letting the tears flow. Once comfortable in Raditz's arms, he let all his feelings out. It wasn't just tears and sobs, and it wasn't at all quiet in the room.

Raditz held tight to his brother; it was all the comfort he could think to give. He felt the slight bond of Saiyan siblings beginning to form between them and, desperate to try and save his brother from the horrible fate he would surly meet, he instantly let Kakarot connect with himself. The emotions were weak, but Raditz could still feel them and though unclear, they still compelled him to tears himself, though not as heavily falling as Kakarot's had been.

The younger Saiyan's cries of anguish and grief died slowly, feeling much like his soul inside. After a long while, the only sound Kakarot made was a hic-up every couple seconds. His emotions, having been released and lacking anymore energy to drive him to do anything more even if he wanted, numbed a great deal. Feelings of comfort and support drifted over him from his older brother, smothering any more of the burning feelings of hate and rage he had for himself. For the time being, Kakarot would be safe from any crazy thoughts of suicide. Raditz's tail crept over the small of his brother's back in search of the tail that should have been there. With no such luck in it's search, the tip hooked over Kakarot's hip and began to count.

"Kakarot," Raditz said, loosening his grip just enough to allow his brother to lean back and look up at him. "What happened to your tail?"

The forgotten Saiyan blinked a few times but didn't respond. He brought his arm down from over his brother's shoulder and up along his own chest to rest atop the very base of his neck, where his collar bones met. He looked away, and an expression of puzzlement twisted on his face. "Kaah," he muttered, looking back up into his brother's eyes. "Kaahkoo...koo...rr...root?"

It took Raditz a minute to piece together what his sibling say trying to say. "Kakarot," he said giving his brother a nod. "Kakarot , that is you."

The younger of the two shook his head. "Kaahraahrrrought," he said letting all of the sounds roll around together in his mouth. "Kaahkaarot...Kaakaarot...Ka-kakarot..." He laid a finger on Raditz's chest. "Kakarot?"

Now it was Raditz's turn to shake his head. "Kakarot," he corrected pointing to his brother. He then pointed to himself and said, "Raditz."

Kakarot wet his lips before attempting the next name. "Raaah..did...ssh..."

"Raditz."

"Raah...di..its...Rad..its...Rad...ditz...Raditz...Raditz!"

"That's right, you got it!" the older brother exclaimed, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He tapped his brother's chest and said his name, then tapped his own chest and said his own name.

"Raditz!" the Saiyan said proudly pointing to his brother. "Kaka-" he began after lowering his finger to his own chest, but stopped. The smile slipped off his face and Raditz sensed the sadness seeping back into his baby brother. "Karot..." he finished letting his voice slip and his hand drop. He would've started crying again, had the door not suddenly sprung open and four new strangers entered.

"He's pathetic!" Vegeta shouted upon first laying eyes on Kakarot. The younger brother had immediately buried his face in the chest of his older sibling when the door opened. He clung to Raditz not unlike the way a newborn monkey would to it's mother.

"He's scared is what he is," Raditz replied defensively. "You all just busted in without warning! How the Hell's he suppose to be?"

"He's suppose to be a Saiyan!" Vegeta shot back. "So what's all this rubbish about him dying and why is he acting like a child? Don't baby him! That's not how he's suppose to act!"

"Prince Vegeta," Fasha said, grabbing hold of the prince's arm. "Listen, we think he a mate on the planet he was on. Apparently when Frieza destroyed it, he killed her too. He's only grieving sir; grieving and...well, perhaps preparing to die..."

Vegeta looked from Fasha to Kakarot and back again. "He does not look dead to me lady. Now, unhand me." Fasha slowly obeyed her prince.

"Vehjetahh..."

Five sets of eyes turned to the youngest in the room. Vegeta lifted a finger and pointed to Kakarot. "Is he," the prince began, taking steps toward the two brothers. "What is he doing?"

"I believe he's trying to say your name," Raditz responded. He placed a hand on Kakarot's shoulder, to try and get him to let go and turn around, but his attempts only got a few whimpers out of his sibling.

"Trying!" Prince Vegeta scoffed. "What do you mean trying? Doesn't he speak the Saiyan tongue?"

"I don't think so..."

"Is that even a Saiyan? I don't see a tail anywhere on him!"

"He's Saiyan alright," came a voice and all eyes, even Kakarot's turned to the one who had spoken. "He looks just like his father, I'll never forget that face," said Torah, backing up what he claimed. He stepped forward and gently unlocked Kakarot's arms from his brother to get a better look at his face. "Younger, less tan..." He wiped away at the moister that had been sitting on Kakarot's cheek since his crying fest. "And not quite as torn up..."

"Oookaaay," said Vegeta, crossing his arms over his chest. "So tell me why he's acting like this. How old is he? 20? Why is he acting like a 5-year old?"

Torah looked to Fasha and everyone else's eyes followed his. "I just told you," she said with a sigh. "The trauma from losing his mate, it's messing with his head."

"And he's going to die?" Vegeta turned back to Kakarot, who had turned completely around in his brother's lap and was now looking around with awe at the others. Particularly Fasha.

"Well, that's what I was told would happen when you lost a mate, yes," she replied. "And that's the way things seemed five minutes ago; Raditz, what happened?"

"I-I bonded with him," Raditz said with a shrug. "Could that have anything to do with it?"

"It shouldn't," Torah said. He leaned back as Kakarot slid from his brother's lap to examine him closer. The younger Saiyan tilted his head to the side, reached up and ran his hand through Torah's hair. He ran it over again and again until he was satisfied that it would not lay down neat no matter how many times he combed through it, then moved his attention down to Torah's chest. "Not if he lost a mate..."

"So why isn't he dying then?" questioned Vegeta.

No one had an answer. They just watched as Kakarot poked at Torah's armored chest then knocked on it with his knuckles. He traced the grooves, working his way down to the abdomens and then across those until his eyes fell upon the tail that was wrapped neatly around the waist.

He lightly laid a single finger on the soft fur of the tail. His touch was so gentle that Torah could barely feel anything and would not have even been aware of it had he not been watching Kakarot the whole time. The younger Saiyan proceeded to, extremely carefully, stroke the tail towards the tip. He repeated this several more times before stooping and looking up to identify the existence of every other Saiyan in the room, one by one, and finally stopping on Fasha. His eyebrows pressed together in a look of puzzlement.

"Well, if we can't answer the questions, maybe he can," Raditz said.

"How?" Vegeta immediately responded. "He can't even speak our tongue."

Kakarot got up and tugged on Torah's hand a bit to show that he wanted the older to stand. Once Torah was on his feet beside him, he nudged him over to stand beside Fasha so that he could begin a compare and contrast assessment of the two. He poked at Fasha's armored chest a bit and stroked her tail as well. She smiled and loosened her tail to rub it along his cheeks, chin and nose. Kakarot giggled as she did so and chased after it with his hand.

"So? He'll learn. We'll teach him. He's acting like a little kid, so what have we left to do but re-raise him like a Saiyan? And when he's ready, we'll ask him about this, if it's still an issue," Raditz replied.

"He'd better grow up fast then, I don't want to wait for long," Vegeta said.

Kakarot now sat cross-legged in front of Torah and Fasha looking again like he was set before a great puzzle he couldn't quite figure out. He chewed on his lower lip as he thought about his next move to make in solving to puzzle. Finally deciding the answer, he reached up and patted Fasha twice between the legs.

**End Chapter 3!**

CoD is still so pissed that she can not write an ending Author's Note. However, she wishes everyone a Happy Holiday Season and will see you all after the new year!


	5. Learning

****

Chapter 4: Learning

"Raditz...Raditz...Raditz...Raditz...Raditz...ummm...Raditz..."

"Hmm?" The older Saiyan finally grunted. He rolled forward slightly, then back and blinked a few times to try and wake up. Kakarot was standing over him and immediately he sat up and asked what was wrong.

Kakarot began talking in his weird language and the look on his face was practically begging Raditz to understand, though of course he couldn't. His older sibling hushed him by placing three fingers on his mouth and saying nothing. Once quieted, Raditz held up the pillow his head had been resting on.

"Raditz," he said pointing to himself. "Kakarot." He pointed to his brother. Then he tapped his lips twice and said "pillow," before pointing to the object in his hands and waiting for Kakarot to catch on.

It took the younger sibling a while to make it click; he sat with his head cocked to the side looking from the squishy mass of fabric to his big brother and back again. A light went on upstairs when he got it and he sat up straighter. "Pah," he said pointing to the pillow.

"Pah..Pah...ummm..."

"Pillow," Raditz restated.

"Pelloh...Peeloh..."

"Pillow."

"Pilllloowwa! Pillow!"

Raditz nodded ecstatically to show his approval. He set the pillow aside, held up his blanket and repeated the process over. This time Kakarot was quicker and recited the words almost as fast as Raditz gave them to him. Raditz showed him Bed, and Floor, and Wall, and Door. They reviewed and moved on to different parts of the body and then to certain verbs like Walk and Hide. Kakarot relearned his colors and numbers and they had just started in on the Saiyan Alphabet when Fasha entered the room.

"Well, you guys are up early," she stated, looking in on the two brothers.

"He couldn't sleep," Raditz replied. "So I got started on his schooling. Someone else is going to have to take over soon though, cuz I could've used a few more hours..."

Kakarot hid behind his older sibling. Things didn't end too well after the whole "Pat-Pat" incident last night and the little Sayian learned quickly to stay out of her reaching distance. Of course that would prove to be difficult now as the room wasn't more then a couple of feet wide either way.

"Vegeta said Frieza wanted him dressed today," Fasha said. "So someone has to take him down to get fitted and everything."

Raditz stretched and fell back into the pillows and blankets of his bed, Kakarot scooting to the side to avoid being squished. "You do it then, I'm tired," he said. Kakarot tightened with worry. "Just remember to play nice. Hehee."

"I'm not gonna do it, he's your brother! You should take care of him," Fasha shot back.

"But it's my day off," Raditz replied. "Besides, this gives you a chance to make up."

"It's everyone's day off today," Fasha seethed, but marched into the room and grabbed Kakarot by collar of his shirt to be dragged out of the room and down the hall. The younger gave one cry of protest before silencing himself with a death glare from the older. Kakarot walked on in silence. Eventually Fasha let go of Kakarot's shirt, allowing him to walk upright again with some dignity in the halls.

She stopped their walk at a room and herded Kakarot into it. There were some other people waiting for them, not Saiyans or Humans like Kakarot was now accustomed too but a different species of people, looking much like a big ugly crocodile or an oddly shaped and colored mushroom. The Saiyan stared with wide eyes.

Fasha said something to them and one stepped up carrying something that could only be a measuring tape of some sort, but of course Kakarot couldn't read any of the symbols on it. The being, about half the size of the Saiyan, made Kakarot hold his arms out to the side and, sure enough, began to measure every inch of him, calling out what he got to his partner who was standing at a keyboard-like machine, punching in the information he was given. When the first was done measuring, the second went off to find something. Kakarot was too busy watching him that he didn't hear the command to get undressed, and was throughly confused when he found the measuring dude pulling his pants down. This scenario didn't end to well either.

"Kakarot, come down from there!" Fasha called to the younger Saiyan as he took up a defensive position in one of the high ceiling corners. "We're just gonna give you some new clothes!"

"No clothes!" Kakarot replied. "Kakarot's clothes stay on! No clothes!"

"You have too, it's the law. Now come down."

Kakarot shook his head defiantly and gave a short but firm, "no."

"Oh, you just wait then; you'll be in big trouble when Prince Vegeta finds out what you've done," Fasha said and began to help the Measurer sit up as he started to come around. The other guy returned carrying three sets of clothes, acting oblivious to what had taken place. He set them on the floor next to Fasha, gave her a piece of paper and went back to his keyboard thingy, pulling out some type of book from behind it and buried his nose in that.

"Vehjetah," Kakarot said slowly allowing a slight drop in his fierce guard. "Vehjetah?"

"Prince Vegeta, you know him," Fasha said. "Remember? Last night, he was the first one to come in? He'll be very mad with you if you don't do what you're told."

"Veegeetah be mad with Kakarot?" The guilt trip was doing exactly what Fasha wanted it to do. Kakarot had already slid down from his perch and looked troubled by this news. "Raditz will be mad?" he asked.

"Yes, everyone will be mad. Raditz will be mad, I'll be mad, Frieza will be mad. Everyone."

"Don't be mad!" Kakarot cried throwing his arms around Fasha's legs. "Kakarot don't want...be mad no more. Kakarot will be good. Kakarot will take new clothes. Kakarot will make Raditz and Vegetah and...and..." He pulled away to look up at her with big, worried, confused, glistering eyes.

"Fasha," the woman replied.

"Fushha. Kakarot make Fhasha happy."

She smiled at him, her anger of the misunderstand last night melting away. Really, he was just like a little kid and all he needed was to be loved and comforted. "Good. You getting dressed is just what everyone wanted." She helped him to his feet and began to pick up the spandex bodysuit on top.

Kakarot gave a quick look at the others in the room to make sure they weren't watching before beginning to strip down to his underwear. When he stopped there, Fasha instructed him to keep going.

"You have to wear the clothes that Frieza provides, there's no exception," Fasha explained. She held up the new set of underwear that Kakarot would put on and waited for him to continue, which he did after heaving a huge sigh and pulling his orange shirt over his lap to keep her from seeing what only a few females had the privilege to see in his life.

Once Kakarot was dressed, Fasha began collecting his old clothes while he picked up the new ones. "What happens to Kakarot's old clothes?" he asked as he saw she wasn't treating them with much care.

"They'll be thrown away, there's no use for them now."

"Can Kakarot keep them?" he asked with pleading eyes. Fasha sighed and shook her head making Kakarot's heart drop a few notches. He watched her finish picking up the last pieces of his comfortable Earth clothes and fought back the tears he could feel building up within him. Before the flood was about to break loose though, Fasha announced that it was time to go and began leading him out, at which point she very sneakily slipped the crumbled bundle of his clothes between the two new sets he now carried. When he turned to give her a puzzled look, she just pushed him to keep walking forward.

Fasha lead Kakarot next door where she handed the paper given to her by the guy in the previous room to one waiting at a desk by the door. He looked at it and then turned around, laid his hand on the wall and ran it along was he walked farther into the room. After taking a few steps, he stopped and pushed a button which made a door open in the wall. From the hole, he pulled out a set of armor much like the one Fasha was wearing and then closed the door again. He returned and handed it to Fasha who turned and gave it to Kakarot to put on. The two Saiyans then returned to the bedroom Kakarot shared with his brother.

"Raditz!" the sibling cried as he pounced his older brother who had been asleep on his bed. "Raditz! Raditz, look!"

The older gave a low growl and rolled over rubbing his eyes. "You're dressed," he stated the obvious. "And on better terms with each other, now I see."

"Yeah, I guess," Fasha said laying Kakarot's new clothes on his bed. She pulled out the old ones and began folding them up neatly and setting them aside.

"What are those?" Raditz asked as he sat up when he saw what Fasha was doing. "Are those his old clothes?"

"Don't tell anyone okay?" she replied as she slipped them into the pillow case. "He just looked so sad when I told him he couldn't keep them."

"But if anyone finds out, you know how strict Frieza is about the dress code..."

"Please don't tell," Kakarot piped up meekly. He gave his brother big, sad, puppy begging eyes and even a trembling lip, which made him feel just slightly ackward as he usually only did this with Chichi, but hey! Now was as good a time as ever to see if it would work on other people. Which it did; to some degree.

Raditz sighed and pushed Kakarot's face into the pillow to get rid of it. "You have to keep it hidden then, and I mean it. You'll be screwed in the ass if anyone finds it, got that Kakarot?"

"Yes," the younger sibling replied as he popped back up and hugged his brother. "Thank you Raditz!"

"Don't thank me, I'm but mearly pretending this is all a dream. If you get caught I won't do anything to save you from punishment. It'll be all on you two."

"We can handle it," Fasha replied confidently. "Right Kakarot?"

"Right!"

"Riiiight..." Raditz added and snuggled back into the mattress.

"C'mon Kakarot, your brother doesn't believe us so we'll have to show him we're made of stronger stuff. Let's go get you tested," Fasha said.

"Tested?" the young Saiyan asked.

"Yes, to see how strong you are."

"I thought Frieza said he'd already done that," Raditz said from his invaded nest.

"Since when are we, the Saiyans, ever satisfied with what Frieza tells us?" Fasha shot back. "He didn't test to see how _strong_ Kakarot was, he tested to see how _weak_ he was. And Prince Vegeta wants to know what he's working with on Kakarot."

"Not much seeing as Kakarot was born as a 3rd class warrior. But I guess it's better to have him then to not have him, huh? Fine, go ahead."

"Aren't you gonna come see?"

"No, he's my brother. I've got a good feeling about what he can and can't do."

"No you don't, up until two days ago the both of you hadn't even met. And don't try to tell me that you have, 'cuz I was an old friend of your father's and I know for sure that's not the case. Besides, I hear there are a lot of people turning out for this, they wanna see what this new Saiyan can do. Don't you wanna be there to be like the proud parent and all?"

Raditz rolled over and sat up. "Those people aren't coming to 'see what he can do.' They'll be there for one reason and one reason only: to hope that he get's his tailless butt kicked so bad that they can use it to ridicule him for the rest of his miserable life under Frieza's kami forsaken rule. To hell with all of them."

"So are you coming?"

"Yes, I'm coming," Raditz replied as he pushed his covers off.

Kakarot, who'd been sitting quietly in the corner of Raditz's bed, got up after him and followed behind. The words that had been said, although in a carefree way, seemed heavy and weighed down to him, but he wasn't sure if that was actually the case or if it was just him.

****

End Chapter 4!


	6. Fight

**Chapter 5: Fight**

"Hello Plenthor!" Raditz called into the room he had just entered.

A stout man about half Raditz's size looked up from the patient he was working on and smiled at them. He finished bandaging the wound and gave the patient some antibiotics before sending him away and fully greeting the three Saiyans that had entered the hospital wing. "Hello there my good friends! Is this the new Saiyan I've heard so much about? Ahhh...This is Kakarot, correct? Oh I remember you Kakarot, yes you were by far the loudest baby I'd ever had to take care of. But look at you now, all grown up! And quiet too, whys that now?"

Kakarot tilted his head to the side. This was the first time he'd ever heard someone speak fluently to him in his new language without one of the devices that both Fasha and Raditz wore on their eyes, and who already wasn't naturally Saiyan. "Kakarot...was here?" he asked looking around. He spotted a tray of needles laying on a table and felt himself seize up inside.

"Oh no, of course not!" Plenthor replied. He took Kakarot's hand and began to lead him away to another large table where he could examine him better. "You were born on Planet Vegeta like all other Saiyans. I have a great fascination with Saiyan anatomy, it's what got me the job there and eventually I was reassigned here."

"Yeah, right before our planet blew up," Raditz mumbled as he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed. "I swear Frieza had this all planned way before we even signed a contract with him."

"Well of course he had it planned out Raditz," Plenthor replied as he took out a flash light and shined it in Kakarot's eyes. "But I doubt he was prepared that far back." He took out a small mallet and began testing the reflexes of his Saiyan patient. "No, he's just making it up as he goes along. Same as you. Oh but listen to me, setting a bad example for you as I babble on about the stupidity of Frieza. We need to watch ourselves, especially you Saiyans."

"You're in no danger of being betrayed by us Plenthor," Fasha said with a smile. "You know we adore you."

"And I adore you," he replied as he began to rub the jointed part of Kakarot's left arm with a stench smelling oil. "But even walls have ears and we shouldn't be taking chances of being overheard."

"Like anyone could understand us anyway."

"And that is why the scouters double as translators." Plenthor held up a jar of nearly transparent liquid to the light, then turned it upset-down and punctured the top with an empty needle which he began to fill up. But in a flash Kakarot was off the table and making a break for the door, which he slammed into and brought his escape attempt to a halt. "Kakarot, what's wrong?"

"No needle!" the youngest Saiyan cried spinning around ready to fight tooth and claw not to have the injection when he couldn't figure out how to open the doors. "No needle, no!"

"Oh dear," was the doctor's response. "I forgot you don't like injections. And I was hoping we wouldn't have to hold you down for this..."

"C'mon Kakarot," Raditz said as he made a slow approach. "You can't tell me you're afraid of getting a shot, not someone as old as you now. It's just one little needle-"

"Three," Plenthor interrupted. Kakarot flattened himself further against the wall and hissed, and Raditz shot him a Look. "Well, I aways was honest with every single Saiyan. I don't know why you'd expect me to lie now."

"Look Kakarot, it's no big deal, you don't need to be afraid, okay?" said Fasha as she took his right hand. "Don't you know me and Raditz would never let anything bad happen to you? This is so you don't get sick from anything we may have that you don't have the antibodies for, okay?"

Kakarot debated for a few minutes, looking over his shoulder at the closed and nearly locked door, before giving in and allowing himself to be led back to his terrifying medication. But he hid behind Raditz and sobbed silently as his older brother held his arm out and the injections were given one at a time. Then his elbow was bandaged to keep the three small pricks from bleeding and he quickly withdrew his arm to his chest. There were several other tests Plenthor had to run, though he mentioned having done most of them while Kakarot was unconscious when first brought aboard the ship, but suffice to say Kakarot wasn't all that enthusiastic about making it go over smoothly.

"And now, for your final test Kakarot," Plenthor said as he finished writing down the overall results on a form. "To see how you've evolved as a fighter! Off we go then, to the training rooms." And he led the way, stopping only at the front office to make sure that someone was there to cover for his absence.

The training rooms, for very obvious reasons, wasn't more then a two minute walk from the hospital wing so they were there very shortly after they left and greeted by a great crowd of people for it was like Fasha had said, there were a lot of people wondering what Kakarot knew as a fighter. Among those that were able to squeeze into the actual room they found Prince Vegeta and his bodyguard Nappa, with Torah flagging them over. He seemed downright giddy about all the excitement.

"Everyone recognizes you as Bardock's son!" he said once the three Saiyans had joined him and Nappa. Kakarot noticed out of the corner of his eye Vegeta and Plenthor slipping away to a more quite corner, but didn't really have the ability to look and see why as Torah began rambling on about how he was sure to be as great a fighter as his dad. "Because even though we were third class fighters, we could finish jobs even elites were scared to take on, and it was all thanks to you father's pep talks and confidence in us!"

"Stop scaring him Torah," Fasha said as she stepped between Kakarot and the over excited babbling Saiyan. "He doesn't want to hear about all this and neither do the rest of us."

"You're the one who doesn't want to hear it," Torah replied with a slightly sulky air in his tone. "But you just do your best in there, okay? Because it runs in your blood, you'll be fine."

Kakarot nodded, though he still didn't understand what was going on. At that time Plenthor returned with Vegeta and Kakarot noticed one slight thing before he was whisked away to a set of doors on the opposite side of the room from which he entered and that was that on the left side of Vegeta's face, barely noticeable so later Kakarot had to wonder if it wasn't perhaps just his imagination, was a scratch that looked much like it had been made by the claws of a whip. But Vegeta was shallowed behind a large group of people and when Kakarot turned around, he found he was just outside a set of doors. Plenthor handed the paperwork he'd done on Kakarot over to one of the several people monitoring screens which currently were off. After they exchanged a few words the doors opened and Kakarot was told to go inside and wait for the fight to begin.

It was darkly lite inside the room and a little stuffy. But compared to the cluster-phobic feel of the previous room, it was much more agreeable. Above Kakarot was one single glowing red light and it didn't give off enough glow to see the walls or far corners where the dark, dark shadows lay. And in one of these shadows Kakarot heard another door swish open and he saw two glowing red eyes and a sharp white fanged toothy smile leering out and him.

Kakarot barely heard the commence announcement over the high-pitched scream and the confusion of having the most ugliest green thing hurtled toward his head at a speed he could just barely follow. He blocked just in the bare nick of time and found himself face to face with what he could only described as a long lost cousin of Piccolo, though certainly not as evolved as his former archenemy as it head was more or less a ball of lettuce with a crudely craved face.

It broke away and retreated to the shadows where it slipped around and attacked from behind. The Saiyan spun and blocked again with his arm though this time he reversed the movement of his adversary by flinging him back the way he came with a flick of his wrist. But his opponent kept coming back. After a few good minutes of this sparring, Kakarot began to get slightly annoyed. He increased his power and shot a small energy blast, one that surly would've fried a regular human alive, but of course this was no human and it did little to hinder it's fighting. Which furthered to annoy Kakarot, but he was reluctant to power-up any further. After all, the last time he had cut loose he had killed those he loved. What would he do if something went a miss and Raditz got in his way? And even if he could keep it together and everything under control, it was still pointless killing. He didn't approve of pointless killing. And to top it all off, he didn't think that was the way to win this battle; after all, these were called the Training Rooms, there was no killing in training, you never kill your opponent while training. But then why couldn't he win a round?

The clock ticked on and the minutes struck the first hour of this continuing bout. It was really beginning to grate on his nerves and the constant screaming wasn't helping Kakarot to think any clearer. Forsaking all he had learned as a "human" on Earth for at least a few seconds of peace and quiet he let his power wash over him in it's maximum and unleashed his Saiyan fury upon the body of the deranged little green thing. And when it was over and his senses had returned, he realized that his hands had again taken the life of something that was innocent and didn't deserve to die. At first his mind had just the slightest problem comprehending it for there wasn't even a body, just a darker mark on the floor, and the memories of the battle that had taken place were instantly repressed and he began to wonder what exactly he was doing and where he was when another door was opened and from it two more of what he just faced where thrown into the room with him and the process started over again.

Once those two were taken care of, in the same way the first had been disposed of, three more took their place. Then four, then five, six...

And each time the numbers grew Kakarot's will to allow this to keep happening dwindled. But not at all in a human way, for as everyone knows Kakarot is not a human. His Saiyan Rage and instinct took over, blocking out any other thoughts, especially those of what was right and what was wrong. And by the end of the eighth round of green loins for the gladiator, there littered the ground bodies and pieces of those he'd slain. As Kakarot he stood dead center in the irony smell of blood mixed with that of burnt flesh, covered in the runny life liquid of all his fallen foes; Goku and all his teachings far from his mind, letting the true essence of what it was to be a primitive Saiyan wash over and consume every fiber and cell within his body, to give himself completely up to the power pulsing in his very veins.

And finally, the battle seemed to stop and with it died his thoughtless mind and all that which drove him in the fighting. He looked around and couldn't seem to recall how so many bodies had gotten there, or how he himself had gotten into the room that he was in. Worst yet, he couldn't find a door to let himself out, it all looked the same around him, and something told him he didn't want to go near the shadows. "Rrrr..." he started to mumble as he did another 180 on the room. "Rrr...Rraaahditsshhh? Raditz...Raditz, where are you? Raditz? Raditz?"

* * *

Outside the training room everyone was dead silent as they watched the battle play out on the screens that had previously been blank. Half the people there expected Kakarot to get smacked up within five minutes of there very first round. Word had gotten around that the planet Earth was a rather peaceful planet with no real need to go to war with anyone or thing so it was natural to assume this Saiyan would've had no experience and may have just as well been a clueless child trying to wield a bastard sword weighing close 800 pounds. The other half was divided in half itself with one quarter totally supporting him (though they wouldn't openly admit it in the crowd for the obvious reason of being killed for hoping that one day there may arise a power that could over throw Frieza) and the other quarter hoping he dies yet not really giving a damn if he lived for they were also the people who hated Frieza, yet they distested Saiyans as well.

So when all eight rounds had been won by him everyone found themselves quite speechless. Some had even left as the later battles got more violent, fearing the Saiyan might try to break out of the room and that he and his companions would start a riot. Others were just going to be sick. And when Kakarot stood among all the death at the end, covered in blood and looking like a forbidding sight, all were scared to move or talk or even breathe, forgetting that he couldn't see them for a minute. But that passed and a soft murmur ran though the crowd like a wildfire through a dry grassland when he started calling for his brother.

"Well," called Vegeta's voice above all the others so that most of them stopped to hear him. "Don't just stand there, open the damn door and let him out!"

"Not yet," came a softer voice and everyone turned to see. "I'd like to have a private word with him."

* * *

By now Kakarot was trying his best not to have a mental breakdown. He'd covered his face with his hands so he didn't have to see where he was and in hopes that it would muffle the putrid smells in the room. But then it hindered his breathing, especially since he was trying to take deep, soothing breaths to keep himself from just going crazy, though that's hard to do when one keeps breathing in the smell of fresh blood every time they inhale.

He heard the sound of a door swishing open and lifted his head up to see stronger light fall upon the wall he was facing. "Raditz?" he said, his hopes soring only to crash when he turned around to find that it wasn't his brother but the very last person he wanted to see at that moment.

Frieza gave one good look around, showing no expression of any type of emotion on his face whatsoever before taking a few more steps into the room and allowing the door to swish close behind him, locking the two of them in the room alone with each other.

**End Chapter 5!**


	7. Obey

**Chapter 6: Obey**

"Hello," Freiza greeted in English. He took a few more steps into the room, but stayed closer to the walls and examined all the dead Sibamen bodies that littered the floor. He stopped and kicked at the wholest body in the room with his foot. Then, he glanced at Kakarot, the Saiyan had retreated to where the door should be and was currently trying to feel for a way to open them. "What? Isn't this the tongue you spoke while being raised on that mudball? Don't you understand what I'm saying to you any more? Or have you forgotten?"

"You didn't say anything to me," Kakarot muttered.

"What was that?"

"I said you didn't say anything to me!"

"I said hello. You usually say hello back when someone greets you. But you didn't, so I merely thought you had forgotten how to talk. It seems I was wrong. Come away form there and talk with me."

Kakarot stayed put, hands leaning on the door and nearly pressing his face to them as well. Raditz was on the other side of the door, that's all he could think of. Raditz would make things okay, would make all the...the...blood? Death? Frieza? The bad stuff, he would make that go away...wouldn't he? He wouldn't leave him there alone in that dark room with Frieza on purpose, would he?

"Or you could just stand there like a stubborn ape with your back to me and not have a civilized conversation, I completely understand. You are, after all, a monkey and how could I possibly expect anything great or civilized from you?"

"Go to hell."

"Tsk, there's no need for that now. I only want to make a few rules clear to you. I don't think your brother and Vegeta were too quick on filling you in, and I do think it's important you learn right away because rare is someone who can get away with just a warning when they do something I don't like. So, lets start with Rule One, the most obvious rule of all: I am now your Lord and Master; you will address me as Lord Frieza or Sire and do everything I ask of you. Now, lets practice this. Saiyan, come here."

Again, Kakarot ignored Frieza and stayed leaning on the door. He was actually trying to focus the door into opening so he could leave, but this wasn't working really well.

"Usually when I give an order you're suppose to say 'Yes Sire,' and do what I ask of you. Let's try again: Saiyan, come here."

"No."

"I'm going to give you one last try and trust me when I say you'll regret resisting me if you don't do as I say."

"Then why not try using my name instead of commanding me like I'm a dog?"

"Because you are a dog now and like a dog you will do as I say or you will suffer dire consequences."

"What could you possibly do to me that would be so bad, hmm?" Kakarot whispered. "My son and wife are dead, all my friends are gone. Truthfully I have nothing left to live for, so what are you going to do? Kill me?" He pulled off his armor and striped the bodysuit, arm bands and boots as well. "Well, go ahead! Here I am, with nothing to protect me! Do your absolute worst!"

"There are worst things then death, Saiyan." Frieza said taking a few steps closer to Kakarot and closing the gap between them. "I wonder," he whispered letting his eyes fall down Kakarot's toned chest and reaching to caress his abs. "I wonder how your brother would feel about your death? What might his reaction be?"

Kakarot tensed up inside; he hadn't thought of Raditz. But, even so...Raditz could get on well enough with out him, it's not like they had known each other all their lives and were close...right? Still no need to be afraid of death.

"Or..." Frieza said pensively as he brought his hand over Kakarot's stomach to rest with one finger inserted in his navel, "I wonder how you would react to me killing him if you did anything I didn't like."

"No you can't!" Kakarot cried before he could catch himself. "Leave...leave Raditz alone!"

Frieza smiled sadistically up at the Sayian, delighted in having found his weak spot. "Rule Two: You do as I say and I won't hurt your brother." He stepped back and walked to the middle of the room. "Now, this is your last chance to please me otherwise I'll drag your brother in here and beat him severally. Come here Saiyan."

Kakarot clenched his fists and tried to resist but it hadn't been more then 30 seconds before he ran and stood right beside Frieza in the middle of the room. He felt weak and stupid and tears began to burn on his checks in his anger at himself; how could he have even thought to put Raditz in danger?

"Kneel."

He dropped to his knees and hung his head, hoping to conceal his tears.

"On your hands. Roll over onto your back as well."With slight reluctance, Kakarot did as he was commanded to do. He was then made to spread his legs apart and Frieza pinned his arms down at his sides. "Who is your master now, dog?"

"Y-you are," Kakarot replied as tears rolled out the corners of his eyes. He added "Sire," after recalling the first Rule.

"Will you now obey me and do everything I ask of you?"

"Y-yes, S-sire."

"Good boy," Frieza cooed in his ear. "Now, try to hold still for this..."

He wanted so badly to squrim away, run back to the door and just bang on it till it opened or fill over, just to get away. To scream, to cry out, to beg but his fear for Raditz's life held him down more efficaintly then Frieza's strength and he just bit his lip and held his breath till he passed out form lack of air with a bloodly lip.

**End Chapter 6!**


	8. Heat

Chapter 7: Heat

Kakarot was made to stay on the ship with the other Saiyans of course, Frieza liked to keep them close as often as he could, but he was not permitted to go on the missions the others left on every so often. Not just yet, it was too much freedom for him just yet. Besides, Kakarot was leverage for making sure the others would return eventually: Frieza doubted they'd leave him behind with how strong the bond was between Raditz and his younger brother now. If Vegeta even attempted to sacrifice Kakarot for the others, he knew Raditz would go off the deep end about it and they'd be short two Saiyans. If they were going to revolt, they had better do it together as a group.

* * *

_**Two Years Later**_

"Hey Saiyan!"

Kakarot looked up at who had spoken to him. Or Raditz. Or Nappa. Whoever. '_Everyone on this bloody ship addresses us as _"Saiyan," _like we don't have names_,' thought Kakarot bitterly, though he'd learnt early not to lets his thoughts show on his face. This time he was in fact being addressed, by a big ugly pink warrior he knew as Dodoria, one of Frieza's right hand men. '_Well, more like his left hand since Frieza doesn't seem to favor him like the other one, Zarbon_.' Kakarot almost allowed a smile to break across his face.

"You missed a spot," Dodoria said pointing with his foot at a shiny, recently cleaned area of floor that Kakarot had been scrubbing away at for the last hour, one of his busy-body chores that Frieza assigned for him while all the others were away, and chuckling as though he had just made a very clever joke. Kakarot looked down at the spot for a full ten seconds then looked back up at Dodoria with an innocent look on his face. "Well?" Dodoria growled, the grin slipping a bit from his ugly face. "Aren't you going to clean it up?"

"Hmmm..." Kakarot said, debating in his head how he wanted to go about the situation. Frieza didn't like him, because he was a Saiyan and that seemed to be all the reason Frieza needed though Kakarot couldn't say the feeling wasn't neutral, but he'd seen Frieza side with Vegeta over disputes between him and Dodoria before, no matter who was right and who was wrong. Could that mean that Frieza hated Dodoria more then Saiyans? Only one way to find out. "No."

"What! What do you mean no!" Dodoria cried. "Now you see here Saiyan, you don't have a choice! You'll do as I say or-"

"I'll do as my prince says," Kakarot retorted. "And Prince Vegeta said he wanted me to obey Frieza-"

"That's _Lord_ Frieza you filthy, little monkey," Dodoria said through clenched teeth.

"- while he was away," Kakarot continued as if there was no interruption. "And Frieza said that I was to clean these halls until you could see your reflection in them. That is exactly what I did. No more, and no less. Now move your dirty feet, they're in my way."

But before Kakarot could get back to work, something knocked him on the back of the head so hard he nearly lost conciseness. Groaning, he looked up to see Frieza hovering behind him and not looking very pleased. Kakarot had a good feeling it was him who had smacked him upside the head.

"You know I won't tolerate backtalk, Saiyan," he hissed. "Don't you ever question authority. I'll kill you if I ever catch you doing it again."

Kakarot grimaced. What he would give to retort how he'd rather die, but now that was out of the question. Frieza didn't even have to use Raditz against him anymore, he just knew how devastated his brother would be if he were to get killed. Kakarot would feel the same way. If they were going to die, Kakarot wanted to be right there with Raditz when it happened so neither of them would suffer. But for now...

"Yes sire," Kakarot said, pulling himself up. Frieza hated it even more if you laid on the floor, however defenseless you looked. "It won't happen again sir."

Frieza looked for a moment like he was just going to leave it at that, but then said, "one week of eating restrictions should do you some good too. No lunch starting today. And if I find that any of the others are sneaking food to you, you'll all go one month without eating anything. Understood?"

Kakarot's eyes widened a bit and he wondered why Frieza was passing this punishment on him, surly it couldn't be just that he'd talked back, but replied all the same, "yes sire."

"Another week added," Frieza said casually. He crossed his arms and seemed to wait for Kakarot to catch on.

"Yes Lord Frieza, sir!"

Frieza nodded. "Very good Saiyan. Carry on." And he turned around, barking an order for Dodoria to follow, and left Kakarot to finish cleaning the halls.

* * *

Kakarot engulfed his lunch the day his eating restrictions lifted. The meals provided for the Saiyans had always been measured so as to keep them from starving to death, but never really fill them up. With the exception of Vegeta, whom Kakarot had a suspicion Frieza favored even if the prince hated his guts, who's meals always contained a little more then everyone else's. But Kakarot wasn't jealous at all for it was Vegeta who had sneakily given him his extra rations to keep Kakarot from doing anything irrational while he "starved."

Today, Vegeta tossed him a little cup package from the bag that always contained the meals specially made for the Saiyans. Kakarot, whose month was full at the time, gave Vegeta a puzzled look and pointed at the offered food with a tilt of his head. Swallowing, he said, "Vegeta I can eat today. You don't have to give me anything extra."

"I don't want it," Vegeta replied simply. Kakarot shrugged and resumed eating what was left of his meal, already farther along then any of the others. Opening the package he found it to be a very tasty pudding, of a flavor he could not place but pleasant all the same, which he then noticed he had never gotten in his lunch before. None of the other Saiyans did either. He assumed it was another of the things Frieza did to favor Vegeta and let it drop in his mind after looking over at the Saiyan Prince.

"This is really good," Kakarot said about the pudding. "Do you know what's in it?" He offered some to Raditz sitting beside him, though his older brother refused it so he offered some to Tora, on his other side. Usually their meals carried on in silence and this wasn't the first time Kakarot had tried striking up conversation. No one replied for a long while and Kakarot assumed today wasn't a good day for talking (apparently not the best day for sharing either because none of the other Saiyans even wanted a taste of the pudding).

"It was my mom's recipe," Vegeta said quietly. He chased what appeared to be some sort of chopped fruit around with his eating utensil. "She made it a lot when I was little. They butcher the end result though, no one could ever make it as good as my mom."

"I would've liked to taste the real thing then," Kakarot said as he finished off the last of the pudding. "Must've been like eating heaven."

From there on the meal continued in silence among them though the room they sat in rang with chatter. Kakarot gathered his trash and cleaned up the crumbs he'd made, stopping only once to think of how Chichi used to do all this for him. '_She'd be proud of me now_,' he thought, a tear rolling down his cheek. '_If only she could see_...' He got up and made his way across the room to dispose of what wasn't editable in the bag. Then he returned, harassed a little by some others but otherwise unharmed and waited for someone to finish eating as well.

"Vegeta..." Kakarot said slowly as he noticed something about Vegeta for the first time that day. "Are you not hungry? You have barely touched anything..."

Vegeta looked up at him, his face calm and almost blank of expression but clearly hiding something. Indeed he had not lifted a single spoonful of food to his mouth since they all had sat down in their own little corner on the floor (no one ever allowed them to sit on at the tables and the cafeteria was always full to it's limits and then some). The other Saiyans looked from one to the other but didn't say anything.

"I'm fine," he replied. "Just fine." The Saiyan Prince returned his gaze to the food before him and continued to not eat. Kakarot frowned at this, worried about what would bother Vegeta to the point of no appetite, but decided this wasn't worth digging around in just yet. If it persisted and threatened the life of his prince, then he should be alarmed. But skipping out on one little meal would hardly endanger Vegeta. Kakarot of all people should've known this, he had to do it for a week!

* * *

"Raditz...Raditz..._Raditz_!"

The older Saiyan rolled over and acknowledged Kakarot with a reluctant grunt. "Wha-whatta ya wan?"

"Can I sleep with you? Please Raditz?"

Raditz sat up rubbing his eye and trying to look annoyed, though it was too dark even for the Saiyan's to make out details such as this. "No," he said flatly. "Go back to bed Kakarot."

"Please Raditz? Please?" the younger sibling begged. He held onto one of Raditz's arms and stroked it in a pleading way. "Pleeeeaaaaseeee?" he asked as he rested his head on his older brother's shoulder.

"No," Raditz stated firmly and laid back down, making sure to pull the blankets up to his chin. He felt Kakarot shift around and then slid his leg over his lower torso to straddle him, which got Raditz to sit bolt upright. "What part of NO do you not understand!" he hissed angrily.

Kakarot was close to his face now and Raditz could barely make out that he was upset. His guard dropped a bit and he wrapped his arms around his younger brother. "Kakarot, you haven't needed to sleep with me for over a year now. What's going on?" he asked.

"I just miss her," Kakarot muttered into the dark. Raditz's heartbeat quickened but he resisted the urge to throw his brother out of the room. "And...I never really liked sleeping alone...It's a comfort thing, ya know? To wake up knowing someone's beside you..."

Silence followed this and the older brother wondered what to do next. "Look," Raditz said firmly, breaking the silence and pulling Kakarot away from his half thoughts. "Lets get one thing straight: I'm not your Mate. Anything you did with her, you will not be doing with me. Understood?" The little brother shifted a bit trying to decode this. Was that a yes to his earlier question or a flat out no? He shook his head. "Get your own pillow and blanket Kakarot, you can sleep with me tonight. But _only_ tonight. Maybe again way later...but this is the only exception I'm making for you right now. Goodnight."

And with that Raditz laid back down and fell asleep. Kakarot reached over and retrieved his blanket and pillow from his bed before laying down next to Raditz wondering what he had meant before he went back to sleep. Smiling in the dark, the little Saiyan snuggled up close to his older brother, who shifted slightly to try and put the distance back between them, and began to pull his hair together in a loose pony-tail in the center of his back. Brushing his fingers lightly through it, Kakarot worked himself to sleep like he had done often when he first came aboard Frieza's spaceship.

* * *

"Hmmm...Still no tail then Kakarot?" asked Plenthor. The Saiyan, sitting on an examination table, shook his head. "Well...That's unusual. You say it's been missing for six years now?"

"That's correct," Kakarot replied. "But it was removed for good. It will never grow back again."

The doctor laughed. "It was not removed for good; the regrowth of that appendage is controlled by a hormone inside your body. The gland that produces it is located deep underneath the skin here-" -he tapped Kakarot's rump, right on the spot where his tail had grown and earned a slight yelp from the Saiyan- "-and quite impossible to remove. No, I think there's something that's repressing it from the inside."

Kakarot tilted his head. "Like what?" he asked.

"Like...oh some other hormone, though I can't think of any that would cancel out the first one. Perhaps you've been suppressing it mentally, thinking it will never grow back or holding it back for one reason or another. But I think that now that you're around Saiyan companions more, it'll pop back up again. Now, you're 24 years old, are you? "

"How do you know it'll grow back?"

"Oh. You'll see."

* * *

"Hey Raditz!" called Fasha as she laid a hand on the Saiyan's shoulder. "Ooo, you look like hell. Didn't sleep well?" she asked with a smirk.

"Do not remind me," he replied, continuing his walk down the hall to the training rooms. "Kakarot scared me half to death. Of all times to _want_ to sleep beside me, this is not the best one to pick."

Fasha giggled as she followed along side him. "Ahh, are you in Heat again, Raditz? Worried you'll give into temptation with your brother?" She gave a surprised look and covered her mouth with her hands in a clear "Uh-oh!" fashion.

"Shut up!" Raditz growled at her. "It's not at all something to be joking about!"

The female Saiyan waved her hand dismissively. "Oh you can handle yourself for the next few nights. You know I'll take care of you before it gets out of control. Relax. Oh! Speaking of going into Heat, when will Kakarot start his?"

"That's just it," Raditz said, coming to a halt with Fasha only two steps in front of him. She turned back to face him, a puzzled expression on her face. "Kakarot and I are exactly eight years apart. We'll both be in Heat at the same time."

"Wow," Fasha said, raising her eyebrows. "That sure wasn't something I was expecting. What were you planning on doing about it?"

Raditz turned away. "I don't know..." he muttered darkly. "I'm not going to relive that memory again, not with Kakarot. Not even with you between us. But I don't think he'll understand all this; I mean, of all of us he was the only one to secure a full-fledged Mate. I don't want him to be confused..." He turned back to her, a hopelessly lost look on his face.

"Well," Fasha said slowly, thinking through what she was going to say. "I can take you like I usually do. Try him afterward, see how he reacts. If he's okay with it, then we have nothing to worry about. If not..." She shrugged. "Then he just has to ride it out on his own. He'll just be feverish and delusional for a few days is all, and we can't help that."

Raditz nodded his head in agreement.

End Chapter 7!


	9. Flashbacks

****

Chapter 8: Flashbacks

Kakarot slid his hand underneath his pillow and pulled out the familiar orange top and pants. Despite the years, they still contained smells from his past life on Earth. "_Chichi_," he muttered holding the cloth to his face and breathing in deeply. Yes, she was still there in the form of a light perfume and cooking spices. He sighed and laid himself down on his bed, allowing his mind to wander back to a very happy time of his life...

It was a beautiful day. The sky was a radiant blue and the sun was warm enough for everyone's comfort. All his friends had gathered, they were sitting in rows of chairs on either side of an isle, which he was looking down, waiting for Chichi. The slow, steady music began to play and his heart jumped a beat as he saw her emerge with her father down the isle. He waved, a goofy smile on his face and patiently waited for her to approach. He did his best to hold still for her, which was what she wanted him to do, but he couldn't help feeling so giddy. Truthfully, he still didn't get the whole point of this wedding thing Chichi wanted them to do so badly, but if it made her happy...

Kakarot smiled at his daydream remembering this. It was stupid and foolish; so much could've turned out so horribly wrong, but thankfully he ended up with a woman who made him so happy he'd never trade her in for anything. He inhaled deeper, falling back into that day.

There was so much food that day but, after five or six servings of the main course, Chichi wasn't really letting him eat too much at one time. She wanted to dance and to show him off to friends of hers he hadn't met yet. But, as annoying as this was, what she wanted to do most with him was kiss passionately and this more then made up for the lack of food.

He still didn't understand what love was, what a wedding represented, but he liked the physical contact him and Chichi made when they were snogging. He felt so warm inside, so cared for and accepted. Loved. Loved for the first time in a long time. Since his grandfather died. He wanted more.

They were finally alone together, thank heaven! He could hardly wait any longer to have Chichi outta the sights of the others. She laughed as he dropped her on the bad and crawled on top of her, kissing her mouth as roughly as he dared. He could sense she was a more fragile then him but, unlike some of the other females he'd met, she'd could hold her own, that much he could tell. His jacket was gone and she was unbuttoning his shirt all the while their lips locked passionately against each other. She pulled away, placing her fingers over his lips to slow him down and hear her out. "Goku," she whispered in his ear.

'_Goku_...' The long forgotten name vibrated in his memories. For a minute he struggled to recall...was that his name? But he was Kakarot...What had happened to this Goku?

'_He lives far away_,' a tiny voice in his mind said. '_That's where we are now. Don't open your eyes. You'll just find yourself back in that horrible place...Kakarot's world...don't open your eyes_...' He didn't open his eyes, but allowed himself to slip back to the scene in Goku's world.

He sat on the bed waiting. Half-annoyed by the reason Chichi had left him; he could've gotten that white dress off her in due time! But no. '_It's too delicate_,' she'd told him. '_And it belonged to my mother! Goku, honey, I just don't want to run the risk of harming it. Let me take it off on my own_.' She rolled him onto his back and purred as she traced lines on his chest. '_I promise to reward you when I return_...' a gentle kiss on the cheek. '_Why don't you get out of those clothes while I'm away?_'

He gladly complied. They had been uncomfortable on him all day and the only reason he hadn't torn them off sooner was because she had asked him not to. She also reminded him quite a few times to keep them on by removing his hands whenever they wandered to areas to loosen the clothes, mostly around the neck and chest area though Chichi had cleverly averted an almost pant-less incident once or twice throughout the day.

Butt-naked he laid back on the bed and waited. A giggle alerted him to the presence of another in the room and looking up he saw Chichi standing in the doorway to the bathroom on the hotel. She, like him, wasn't wearing anything and he marveled at her body. He sat up hastily when she cuddled up next to him on the bed, an image replaying of another time in his young life where he had seen a girl naked and she had not been pleased. Several things had hit him upside the head, causing pain that he wished to avoid at all costs.

'_What's the matter?_' she asked sweetly. '_Isn't this what you wanted? Awww, you're not afraid of girls now are you?_'

She was so close to him now...what was he going to do! Bulma hadn't taught him how to act in this situation...in fact, she'd done everything in her power to keep his hands off certain parts of the female body. So, what did sitting here naked with Chichi mean? All deals off? He could touch wherever he pleased? Or was that going to cause him some deal of pain, which he really hoped to avoid. He could do without excessive yelling as well.

Not knowing what else in the world he was expected to do, he grabbed her head and titled it so he could have easy access to her lips before plunging his tongue into her mouth like they had been doing. He made sure to hold her head, not too hard, with both hands so as to keep him from touching anything else. In due time, he came to learn that Chichi wanted him to touch her and so let his hands roam around, exploring...

Kakarot rolled over and bit down on his bottom lip. His eyes were open now, he couldn't help it. It was just too painful to relive without her, he'd realized harshly. The throbbing heat between his legs didn't help him feel all that better at the moment either. He rubbed at it, hoping to make to go away. Sometimes that worked, most times it made it worse. This was not one of the better times.

He recalled having these immense hot flashes twice before in his life: two years before marrying Chichi during his training on Kami's lookout and four years before meeting Bulma. In the training there was nothing to do but attempt to rough it out but he'd fainted, awaking three days later in a tub of ice water to a very worried looking Kami and Mr. Popo. The hot flashes were gone though. '_Maybe it's some sort of Saiyan thing_,' he thought. '_Raditz might know what to do_...'

As if answering his silent plea, the door opened with a gentle _swish_ and the older sibling looked in on the room. Upon seeing Kakarot there though, he froze, unsure suddenly of what to do.

Kakarot hardly seemed to notice as a wonderful smell had overtaken him. A wide goofy smile spread across his face and he sat up to greet his brother. "Raditz..." he half sighed, a few naughty thoughts suddenly floating across his mind. He couldn't sense anything wrong with this though and allowed them to continue on without scolding himself once.

"So did he go--Oooooo...no huh?"

Fasha then popped her head in below Raditz's and it was quite clear she didn't know what to do with the situation any more then Raditz did. But, unlike Raditz, she wasn't battling down henti thoughts and the overpowering urge to boink something. "Ummm..." she said, feeling Kakarot's gaze turn icy on her. "Maybe my room would be more-"

In a flash, Kakarot had wedged himself in the tiny gap of only a few inches between Raditz and Fasha. "Get Out," he seethed between clenched teeth at her. He had temporarily forgotten who he was, who she was, what Raditz was to him. He'd forgotten that when his sibling entered the room. The scent had soothed him. He wasn't in pain anymore and Fasha had implied taking Raditz away with her, taking away his relief. '_Well_,' his mind said, lusting for the battle over a mate. '_I'll be DAMNED if I let that happen!_'

"Go," Raditz suddenly commanded. "Fasha, get out!" She didn't need to be told twice or why. In a flash, she was gone and her footsteps could be heard running down the hall.

Kakarot turned back to Raditz, smiling contently--

WHACK!

"If you DARE touch me, I'll kill you myself!" Raditz said, his arm still extended form having just punched his sibling in the gut, still holding his sibling up. He retched it free and Kakarot doubled over on the floor coughing and gasping for breath. He was in too much shock to feel the pain just yet and lifted his head to find Raditz standing over him, his expression to dark to read.

"Ra..." Kakarot gasped, cringing at the searing pain that shot through his stomach and chest at having to move the muscles. Breathing wasn't exactly a very pleasant thing to be doing at that point either, but it was too necessary to give up. "Rad...Rads...its..." And then his vision blurred, due more to tears then anything else, and he collapsed on the floor with unconscious darkness devouring him.

Gentle hands massaged his upper back and shoulders, kneading the skin like it was dough. He realized they were female hands and were very slowly moving their way down his body. They stopped at his hips and then something leaned close and began nuzzling his face and neck, purring lightly. He trilled deeply in response, a smile working it's way across his lips.

"_Oh Chichi_," he muttered in English. "_I had such a bad dream_..."

"Awake now Kakarot? Or are you still a little delusional?" a voice whispered in his ear that wasn't speaking English and certainly was NOT Chichi.

Kakarot's eyes sprang open. He then realized it was Fasha and made quick to zip out from under her. "What do you think you're doing!" he yelled at her from the corner he braced his back against. Fasha crossed her arms and Kakarot realized, with a slight jolt of horror, that she wasn't wearing anything at all. And neither was he. "What happened! What'd you do!"

"I told him it was a bad idea," she muttered, lowering and shaking her head. "I told him, I _told_ him." Looking up, her expression was one of slight regret. "Don't be getting upset just yet," she replied. "I didn't do anything to you. Raditz wanted me too, so that you wouldn't remember, but...well, it didn't feel right doing that to you, okay? Not without making sure you understand some things."

"Things?" Kakarot asked. "What...kind of things...?" He pulled a pillow close to him and over his lap, hoping that in all the excitement Fasha hadn't seen _his_ excitement.

"I'm sure you're wondering why your brother attacked you. I mean, you only acted naturally and he went off the deep end about it and all." Kakarot stared unblinkingly at Fasha, not comprehending a word she was saying other then what he remembered happening. When he didn't reply, Fasha sighed in an almost defeated sort of way. "You know you're in Heat, don't you?"

"Heat..." Kakarot repeated. "In Heat as in..."

"It's time for you to breed," Fasha finished for him with a nod. "Reproduce. Father a child." Kakarot twitched involuntary at the last thing she said. It was like another blow to his stomach as he recalled the wonderful little boy he had had back on Earth. Some father to that child _he_ had been...But Fasha didn't notice and so continued, "Exactly how much of this do you understand?"

Kakarot tilted his head, in a child-like way and shrugged. "Not a whole lot I guess. I mean, I never really understood the reproduction of the earthlings I lived with..."

"Whoa," Fasha said. "Okay, let's take it from the top then.

"Saiyans go into Heat once every eight years, coming into Heat for the first time when they're eight years old, got that?" Kakarot nodded. "In the ancient days, Saiyans usually Full-Mated on their first heat with the Saiyan to whom they shared the strongest bond out side of their family. You understand that?" Kakarot took a minute to comprehend the information, then nodded once more. "Of course, not all of these relationships worked for the best so when our first king was elected he passed a law that stated, unless under special circumstances, Saiyans were not to be mated until they were 16 years of age. They could, however, be Half-Mated, which would be carrying out a regular mating ritual without fulfilling the blood exchange part which would then bind them as mates for life and open a telepathic link between the two. Follow all that?" Again, Kakarot waited a moment then nodded, this time just a bit more slowly. "From then on out it was up to the individual on what they wanted to do with their personal courtships.

"Now, the actual mating ritual, which everyone follows more-or-less on instinct, begins with the Heated Saiyan picking out another they will win over. In your case, you seemed to have picked Raditz;" Kakarot blushed a bright red and shifted his pillow around. As usual, Fasha didn't notice, though at this point Kakarot suspected she did and was just very skilled at hiding it, and continued on, "And that's most probably due to the fact that he too is in Heat. It isn't uncommon for Heated Saiyans to seek out others that are in, just done with, or just about to begin Heat as a potential mate. When in Heat, Saiyans, especially the males, give off a strong, sweet smelling scent to let others know they are ready to mate and attract other Saiyans to them. The only way to win a mate over is to defeat them in battle. This strong scent will attract a lot of other Saiyans who will attempt to win him over in a fight. The winners of these mating fights will decide if they want to mate with the loser or not, and it is not uncommon for a Saiyan to reject another based only on the fact that they don't think the loser's fighting was good enough to be paired with them, Heat or no Heat." She paused to let this all sink into Kakarot's mind. Eventually, he nodded to show he was ready to go on.

"So when a winner does decide to mate, he will claim the Saiyan who fought him by rubbing his scent upon the other and demonstrating his power over the other as the dominatrix. Usually this is done during an intense make-out session right where the battle had been fought, though if it wasn't in an area private enough for the dominate Saiyan's tastes then he will move them both to a more quiet quarter. There's a lot of physical exploration at first, as each of them seeks out any areas of injury or weakness. After that, it's left to instinct and hormones. If they wish to complete the ritual as a Full-Mating one, then towards the height of climax each of them will bite into the base of the other's neck hard enough to draw blood. And then, with any luck, the next generation will be conceived."

Kakarot stared at Fasha, not even bothering to nod this time. Sure, he got the just of what she was saying, but he was having issues controlling the images dancing around in his head; half of them being of experiences with Chichi and the other half being of fantasies he wanted to do with Raditz. He pressed down harder on his lap pillow.

"Is it wrong for me and Raditz to mate then because we're brothers?" the young Saiyan asked.

"Special circumstances," Fasha replied. "Technically, no. Prince Vegeta has made it clear that, considering there's only 6 of us left now, we may mate with whom we wish. If we were still on Planet Vegeta and there were many more Saiyans, then yes; a courtship between you two would be frowned upon, but you wouldn't be punished--"

"So then why won't he just mate with me!" Kakarot interrupted. "Why is he running away and avoiding this! I mean! No offense Fasha, I just..." his voice trailed and he looked away.

"You'd be more comfortable in his arms," she finished for him. "I know what you mean. But Raditz avoids this because he's been through a lot."

"Been through a lot?" Kakarot repeated. "What do you mean?"

The older female Saiyan shifted a bit uncomfortably and leaned in closer to her company. "Look, I think you should know this, but...Well, don't you ever let Raditz know I told you, got it?" Kakarot nodded and waited for her to continue, a concerned, serious look on his face.

"Before Frieza made us into slaves, Saiyan's lived in tightly knit family groups consisting of two mated Saiyans and any children they had. Your father was very close to Raditz, really like a father should be. At that point in time, we worked along side the Zarcosian people in the planet retail business. They didn't understand a lot about us and we didn't understand a lot about them, but we could fight and they knew how to operate some high tech technology; we got on well enough.

"Then one day they struck up a deal with Frieza. Our king didn't really like it, but since it didn't concern us, we rode it out. As time when on it seems the Zarcosian racked up pretty high debt to Frieza and so, to pay it off, they handed our people over to Frieza. He didn't take us over at first; Frieza may not be the brightest crayon in the box but he's not retard-stupid either, much as we all wish he was. For the first four years or so he didn't really call us a part of his empire, but spent a lot of time examining us, testing the waters on every boundary he could thing of. He selected families at random and called them out to conduct various testes on his own.

"A lot of people were upset about this. Some of the 'tests' he'd set up were emotionally shattering. Children were being taken from their parents, people getting beaten to death, women being raped. One guy came back ranting that he'd been forced to kill his mate. People begged our king to do something, stop this maniac. But our king was powerless to help us or even ease the suffering of what was going on. Some people left our home, Planet Vegeta, either because they had fallen victim or feared they would be next. Your brother was eight when he and your father were called on for another '_test_.' After the incident, neither of them spoke to much about what had happened. Bardock did confess everything, in great detail, to his mate Rosha who recounted the events to me when we were paired in the same fighting team years later.

"You're father had gone in hoping that they might've gotten picked for one of the easier tests, like for Stamina or Strength. The planet they had landed on was small, but remote and completely deserted. Frieza greeted them, along with 20 if his most loyal and strongest Elite fighters. Although Raditz was showing potential to be a 1st class soldier, he was still just a boy and didn't have enough experience to take on even half of the 20, never mind them all being Elites. Your father was a 3rd class warrior, he surly wouldn't have lasted."

She paused and looked to Kakarot, concern displayed on her face. Fasha waited for the younger Saiyan to absorb all this information, and brace himself for next part. When he was ready, Kakarot nodded at her to go on.

"To put it in the bluntest way possible, your father was forced to mate your brother during his first heat, in front of Frieza and his 20 Elites."

"WHAT?" cried Kakarot as he jumped to his feet. "No! No! _NO_!" He rushed at Fasha and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a bit. You're lying! _Tell me your lying_! That _CANNOT_ be the **_TRUTH_**!"

"Kakarot, I really wish I was but even if this was a joke it wouldn't be funny," Fasha replied. "Your father tried talking his way out of it, but Frieza used the lives of Rosha and Raditz against him. He told Bardock that if he didn't do everything he was told, he'd kill his eldest son. When Bardock told him he wouldn't let him harm his son, Frieza used the threat of killing Bardock and then tormenting Rosha and Raditz for as long as they lived in ways that need not be repeated, _ever_. And neither Raditz nor Bardock had been allowed a scouter to call for help; Raditz didn't understand what was being said for his father and Frieza spoke in a different language, one both of them knew but he did not yet learn. Your brother was held down and raped without even knowing why."

Kakarot had sunk to his knees and covered his gaping mouth. Fasha's words rebounded in his mind, echoing off the walls to repeat themselves over and over again. Images of what had been done darted across his mind, the helpless look that must've been on his brother's face...Another thought resurfaced, a memory from far away, '_He looks just like his father; younger, less tan, not quite as torn up_.'

'_I look like him!_" his inner voice finally screamed among all the other chatter. '_I look just like our father! Raditz...Oh my God, poor Raditz! My brother...How will I ever face him again! What would I say?_'

"Kakarot? Kakarot! KAKAROT, _REMEMBER TO BREATHE_!" A violent jolt brought the younger Saiyan out form his shock and he inhaled deeply as he now was able to focus on his deprived lungs. He fond himself looking straight into deep brown eyes filled with worry. Fasha leaned back a bit to give him space, but kept a hand on his shoulder, afraid he would forget how to _live_ again. "Are you going to be okay?"

Kakarot nodded shakily. He tried to get to his feet and swooned dangerously, collapsing into the bed. Fasha sat beside him, rubbing his back with her hand and stroking his hair. "I guess you're not in the mood for sex then, huh?" she asked after a long moment of silence.

"No, I'm not..." Kakarot said, lying horribly in the physical way. He reached over the side of his bed and began groping for his discarded clothes. And when glancing over in Fasha's direction, accidentally looking in an area he could get killed for looking at by his wife, he noticed a rather disturbing looking scar slicing across her lower abdomen. Concerned, he asked, "What happened?" before he even knew he'd spoken.

Fasha looked down to were his eyes had lingered and back up into his dark orbs. She smiled faintly, a smile clearly not full of any happiness, and got up to fetch her clothes as well. "It's a hard knock life, Kakarot. We all know that. We're slaves now and we don't have a lot of choice in matters. You just...learn to live with things..." And she turned away, but not before Kakarot caught the gleam of a tear falling down her cheek. Before he could ask her more, or even offer a shoulder, she was dressed and was fleeing out the door, calling a quick goodnight over her shoulder and leaving Kakarot to wonder at the complexity of females.

****

End Chapter 8!


End file.
